


30 Day OTP Challenge

by lightinthedarkness



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Beauty and the Beast AU, Domestic, Established Relationship, M/M, Modern AU, Reincarnation AU, These two deserve to be happy, alternative universe, lets player au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-15
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-05-01 17:21:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 43,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5214317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightinthedarkness/pseuds/lightinthedarkness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>30 Days of Perc'ildan. Edit: Will no longer be in exact order. Edit: Chapters 13-20 are reused one-shots.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day 1: Getting Lost Somewhere

"For Sarenrae's sake, this is our own fucking keep!" Vax's curse echoed through the hall.

"Well, to be fair we've not had much time to explore the whole place," the flame from the candle flickered under Percy's breath.

"And what little time we've been here I've hardly felt like exploring and you've barely left your workshop."

"Or we've been fighting invisible stalkers.."

"Ah yes, how could I possibly forget those," the irritation was evident in Vax's tone, "You never forget your first dungeon shank Percival." The venom was still there, but the smirk that accompanied it softened the impact.

"Care to remind me why we're down here? I'm afraid I must've forgotten while you were cursing that poor wall right there."

"My dear sister wanted us to grab something from the pantry for Laina."

"Where's the pantry?"

"That's what I fucking asked! You know what she told me?" Vax pushed the fur on his cloak closer to his face, which was raised up in a sneer.

"How should I know, that's why I'm sending you." Vax had somehow managed to make himself sound more posh than usual in his imitation of Vex. Percy used his free hand to cover his mouth, holding back the laughter that shook his body.

"And by the grace of Sarenrae, I've managed to drag you into this Percival." Percy sighed after calming himself down.

"Yes, Keyleth's been insisting I get out of my workshop every now and again. She tries, but I hardly think putting a stone wall over the door is the way to go about it."

"That's Kiki for you." Vax shrugged as the two continued through the hall, their boots clicking under the stone floor. Some time in silence had passed before Vax stopped in his tracks.

"Something wrong Vax?" Percy stopped right behind him, the candle still flickering.

"You know, it might not be too too bad being lost here," Vax turned to face the human, the candlelight illuminating his grin, "Gives us some peace and quiet don't you think?"

Percy couldn't tell if the flushed feeling in his cheeks was from the small amount of heat the candle was giving off, nonetheless he placed the candle onto the stone floor, the his own flushed grin flickering in the new light.

"I quite like the way you think, Vax'ildan."


	2. Day 2: Pet Names

"I'm hoping to get the Behir gland to fit somewhere around here," Percy pointed the the sketch he was holding. Keyleth nodded as she walked alongside him.

"I'll have to rework some of the wiring in Diplomacy, but it shouldn't be too difficult once we get started. Now I shouldn't have to keep asking you whenever it needs charging."

"You know I don't mind! Its kinda fun actually!"

"Fun? Questionable. But its not the most practical." The human chuckled as he started folding the sketches and putting them into his front pocket. 

"Well well well, and here I thought you only knew the way to your workshop Percy." Scanlan jested. The two took their seats next to the twins. 

"Of course he knows how to get here, its his keep too." Keyleth's retort was mostly drowned out by the sounds of Grog's eating, chewing, and occasional burping.

"Nonetheless, always happy to have you join us Percy." Vex leaned over her brother so she could be heard.

"Yes well, the last thing I needed was another stone wall over my work shop," Percy shot an glare at Keyleth, "the door still doesn't close quite right." Vax chuckled as the gunslinger smirked before looking over the spread on the table, or at least what wasn't on Grog's plate or face.

"Would you mind passing me a plate darling?" Percy asked Vax.

The scraping sound of Vax's fork against the plate caused all but Grog to stop eating. Vex looked at her brother with a look of irritation only to notice that he was just staring at his plate.

"Brother, are you-"

"Would you care repeating that Percival?" Vax turned away from his sister.

"I asked if you would-"

"Just the last part..." A small red line was forming on the half-elf's cheeks.

"Darling?" A small giggle came out of Vax, one the likes of which Percy had never heard before. 

"I can't seem to hear today, would you mind saying that one more time?" 

"Of course, anything for you darling." Percy smirked at the last word as Vax's face turned a lovely shade of red.

Vex meanwhile just rolled her eyes and turned back to her plate.

"For Sarenrae's sake brother." She mumbled with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As much as I love suave!Vax/flustered!Percy, I equally love the idea of a role reversal every now and again.


	3. Day 3: Patching Each Other Up

It was always fascinating to watch Percy in his workshop, and even moreso when it was done without his knowledge.

At least, that was Vax's logic as he hid in the shadows of the lab. The rogue was careful to not touch anything, remembering the incident with Grog.

At the moment, Percy was not at his forge like usual, and instead at another table with a variety of glass vials and beakers filled with colorful (or colorless) liquids. He still had on his gear; mask, gloves, apron. 

Percy took one of the vials from a rack and poured it into a larger beaker. He then took what Vax thought looked like a failed bullet casing and dropped it into the beaker. After a few moments of continued observation Percy used a pair of tongs to take the casing out, holding the beaker with his free hand to steady it. The liquid dripped from the casing and onto Percy's gloved hand. 

Even under the mask, Vax could still notice Percy's wince as he dropped the tongs onto the table, hissing in pain. Vax left the shadows of the wall and was at Percy's side.

"What's wrong?" Vax tried to keep the panic in his voice unnoticeable. Percy nodded his masked head towards a corner of the table.

"There should be a bag of white powder." 

Vax managed to find the bag a few moments later as Percy removed his gloves.

"If you could, just sprinkle some over my hand." Percy requested. Vax did as he was told and was rewarded with a sigh of relief from the human.

"Seems like my gloves have a hole in them. I'll have to get some new ones later," Percy turned to Vax with a raised eyebrow, "And I don't think I want to know what you were doing in the shadows."

"Oh you know, just passing through."

"Do you always stealth when you're.....wait don't answer that." 

"I was going to say Percival, its like you hardly know me." Vax retorted with a smirk before leaning down towards Percy's fingers. 

"I greatly appreciate the sentiment!" Percy shouted while pulling his hands back, "but this material shouldn't be consumed or even be near human lips, half-human included." 

"However," Percy leaned forward, pecking Vax's now pouting lips with his own, "Those are perfectly fine."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"If you keep looking at me with that face I'm going to let Kiki do it again." The threat rolls off playfully, but the tone doesn't quite reach Percy as he continues to stare at Vax's outstretched neck.

The bite wounds are still there, not as fresh and (thank Sarenrae, Pelor? Percy's not really sure anymore) not bleeding. 

They're still there though, as if they were staring back at Percy, mocking him.

"You put your love through this Percival," The marks tell him, "He almost died because of you." There's a hitch in his breath at this, because they're right. Vox Machina, Vax.....they're all in danger because of him.

There's a warm feeling against Percy's forehead that snaps him back to reality. 

"Most men, or women, would kill to have the view you're getting Percy, and yet here you are ignoring me." 

Percy had to blink a few more times before Vax's form finally solidified for him.

"Right, right, terribly sorry." He apologized as he reached into a pouch that held the herbs for Vax's treatment. Right then, Percy was stopped by Vax's hand. The half-elf had a serious look on his face.

"Percival, you need to stop blaming yourself." It was just above a whisper as Vax put his lips to Percy's forehead once more.

"I'm the reason you're like this." Percy clenched his fists, tensing under the touch. Vax pulled back with a grin.

"Are you so sure, because I'm fairly certain it was..."

"You were only there because-"

"Percy." It wasn't loud, but it was firm enough to stop the human mid-sentence, staring Vax in the eye for the first time since he entered the room.

Vax moved the hand that was grasping Percy's forearm up to his hand, intertwining their fingers.

"Percy, I'm here, I'm alive." The firmness was replaced by reassurance. Percy felt his body soften at the words and his muscles loosen.

"Well, you did wake all of Emon by screaming that, so I really can't argue now can I?" There's a chuckle that evolves into full laughter from the two, the tension from only moments ago seeming to evaporate in an instant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suave/Adorkable Percy is an amazing thing to write lemme tell you.


	4. Day 4: Hospital Visits

The wood creaked with each step as Vax paced throughout the room. Keyleth and Tiberius gave him worried looks.

"They'll be back soon Vax, I'm sure of it!" The druid did her best to be optimistic, but the concern still slipped into her words.

"She's right Vax, you and Vex can be all twinsy again, and you and Percy can go back to being all smoochy kissy," Tiberius used his hands to demonstrate the last part. The two half-elves looked at him questioning, causing him to stop, "Well....its true."

"Its been four days though, we finished our bullshit in a day and they're still gone." Vax ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

"Well, if I heard that...woman right, then its to be expected," Tiberius explained, "a dragon takes-"

"Tiberius please don't remind me." Vax's heart almost stopped when he first heard that the other group's task was a dragon, a fucking dragon. It took everything in him to not plant a dagger in the headmaster's throat then and there.

Right then there was a knock at the door. Being the closest, Vax opened the door and greeted the halfling Murtin.

"Greetings, I came to tell you that it seems the other group-" he barely got his sentence in before the three ran past him into the main room. 

They saw Vex, Grog, Scanlan, and Trinket collecting their payment from Vanessa. In a flash, Tiberius was hugging Vex, Keyleth was hugging Grog and Scanlan, and Vax was looking around the room. There was a lack of.....white hair in the room.

Once Tiberius let go, Vax rushed over to his sister, ignoring the disgusted noise coming from Grog. As amazing as it felt to be back with his twin, Vax could feel something was off.

"Um, where's Percy? He was with your group right?" Vax looked around the room again before noticing the look his sister was giving him.

"About that, yes Percy was with our group-"

"He almost died." Scanlan's comment was blunt and direct. Vax felt his stomach jump into his throat.

"What?"

"Scanlan!" Vex hissed, "Brother, he's fine."

"So he didn't almost die?"

"Well, he did get knocked out by the dragon's tail," Vex winced as she described the moment. Vax could feel his breath becoming shorter, "But Grog got a potion in him, so he's okay!"

"You're welcome." The goliath humphed.

"Then where is he?" Came the question through gritted teeth.

"We had to take him to a cleric, he was still in bad shape."

"I just want it to go on record that I almost died too, like really close." Scanlan barely got his sentence out before Vax rushed out the door.

"Well, that was quite rude." Tiberius stared out the door the rouge left from.

"I completely understand him prioritizing the one who controls the sex over me. In fact I respect it." Scanlan replied. 

Somehow, despite not asking his sister exactly where Percy was, Vax was able to find it after about a half-hour of searching.

"Excuse me, have you seen a human around here? White hair, glasses, incredibly handsome? He's kinda hard to miss." 

Despite the rather....odd description, one of the clerics was able to point him to a room on the second floor of the building. 

Inside the room, reading a book and bandaged up all over the place was Percy. Vax couldn't help but take in the peaceful expression on his face, enjoying himself for another moment before knocking on the open door. 

Percy jumped slightly before turning to see Vax. Immediately the book was closed and set aside as The human grinned at the company.

"Well, if I had known the nurses here would be so good looking, I wouldn't have been as hesitant to come." Percy commented as Vax sat at the edge of the bed. Percy tried to lift himself up on the bed, but winced in pain before lowering himself back down, "I'm afraid I'm not the best of company at the moment." He tried to laugh, but Percy could still see the frown on Vax's face.

Vax looked over Percy's form, noting the healing cuts and scrapes.

"Gods, that dragon really fucked you up didn't he?" 

"I suppose that's one way to put it," Percy chuckled until he saw that Vax's frown wasn't going away, "But I'm completely fine....for the most part. Just need a few days rest and I'll be back in tip top shape!" Percy tried his best to be reassuring, and it seemed to pay off as Vax's frown formed into a loose line on his mouth. Percy took Vax's hand into his, intertwining their fingers, "Enough about me though, I'm guessing your group did okay?"

Vax recollected the second group's encounter with Thorbir, Kashaw, and the Rakshasa.

"As hilarious as it is, could you stop doing the hand thing when you say Rakshasa? My sides can't take too much laughing." Percy requested as he clutched his side, laughter still bubbling out of him.

Vax eventually got to the part about him and Keyleth pretending to be married, which caused Percy to raise an eyebrow.

"I know that look," Vax kissed the top of Percy's head, but said nothing more about it. Instead, Vax finally got to the part of Keyleth and Kashaw's kiss. 

"She's growing up so fast. It seems like just yesterday I had to convince a court she had pubic lice." Percy pretended to sniffle at the description as Vax snorted.

"I think she's still talking to my sister about it. But now its your turn Percival." 

The human sighed, but started to talk about Zahra and Lyra and the dynamic they all shared.

"Zahra and Vex didn't get along at first, but I think they managed to form some sort of relationship. Or at least I think they did, it was a little hard to notice with Lyra's constant chatter in my ear."

"Its the white hair, its like a twin magnet." Vax commented as he ran his fingers through Percy's hair.

"I'm actually almost glad you weren't there. We got ambushed in the middle of the night and.....I was wearing my pajamas."

"You didn't??"

"And the butt flap was down." At this Vax pulled his hand out of Percy's hair to clutch his side, loud laughter coming from the half-elf. 

"Oh that's too good Percy. I would have paid good coin to see that." Vax managed to wheeze out between laughter.

"Anyway..." And Percy continued to talk about the fight with the dragon. He started getting really excited when he got to the part where his hand grenade actually worked.

"Has anyone ever told you you're adorable when you start rambling about your inventions?" Vax asked with a grin. Though flustered, Percy was still able to continue on his description of the fight.

"And then I fell unconscious. Next thing I know Grog's manhandling me and pouring a potion down my throat. Vex later told me how Zahra managed to make the final blow and it was quite remarkable from what I heard." As he finished his story, Percy turned to look outside the window, noticing that it was quite late.

"Seems like we've been talking for awhile." Vax commented as he too started out the window. A yawn managed to escape his lips, despite his best attempts to stifle it.

"Seems like it, you should head on back to the Slayer's Take before it gets too late." Percy turned to look at Vax, noticing now that the half-elf had already fallen asleep at the edge of Percy's pillow. Their hands still intertwined, Percy smiled before leaning back into the bed and shortly falling asleep himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotta love those canon divergences ehehhe.


	5. Day 5: Scar Worship

"And what about this one?" Vax carefully traced over Percy's fingers at a faint line that seemed to wrap around them.

Percy moved his head from Vax's collarbone and looked over his boyfriend's shoulder.

"Ah, I believe that one was from my early fishing days," The human explained as he fiddled with Vax's fingers, "I had never used a net or fishing wire before then, so I ended up holding them improperly. The moment I started trying to pull the net back up, it dug into my hands," Percy winced as he recalled the day, "The Captain and his wife were very kind with treating me and teaching me how to properly hold the net." The look in Percy's eyes showed him to be somewhere else, some other time.

Vax leaned back into Percy's chest as the human slipped a hand from the grasp. Percy moved slowly through Vax’s arm and up to his chest, taking note of all the nicks and scrapes that decorated the rogue’s body. He finally stopped right near Vax’s ribs at a nick of skin.

“Um, I don’t think this one’s been explained,” Vax tensed under the touch before sighing and placed his hand over Percy’s.

“I…I was really hoping we’d never have to talk about this,” The teasing tone in Vax shifted, “Percy…Percival…there’s something you need to understand. Before we met Vox Machina, all Vex and I had were each other,” Vax started shaking slightly, “I’m willing to die for Vox Machina but…I’ve done things I’m not proud of to keep Vex safe and I would do it all over again if it meant she would be alright.” 

Percy wasn’t surprised by most of this confession. He already knew that the twins had a bond no other member of Vox Machina would fully understand, not even Percy himself. He was more than okay with that, but it was the other part that had him concerned.

“Innkeeper’s Son,” Vax continued, trying to compose himself, “little Fucker surprised me before Vex and I left town.”

“What happened?”

“This was shortly after we had left Syngorn. We barely had any silver to our name, let alone gold,” The dark chuckle didn’t reach the half-elf’s eyes as Percy watched his face, tightening his hold, “The first town we arrived in had an inn. It was small and far from the best, but for two runaway bastards it was paradise, or it would have been if we had the money to stay.” 

Percy raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“The moment we showed the innkeeper what we had he tried to throw us out, but his son stopped him saying that he would pay for the night. Afterwards, he came into our room to bring dinner. The way he talked to Vex…you could tell he was sleazy right from the get go and fully expected us to pay him back, or at least he expected Vex to…..” there was a sadness in Vax’s tone at the last part.

“Well, me being the great big brother I am, I couldn’t just let that happen.”

“So, did you stab him?” Percy was very confused about the emotions Vax was giving off while recalling this.

“No, no I didn’t. I almost wished I had, but we needed a roof over our heads for at least a few days. So…I took Vex’s place and I charmed the pants off the bastard, quite literally,” another deep sigh, “I’d argue that’s the best performance I had ever done, he was smitten with me…” Vax turned to face the wall, away from Percy’s gaze.

“Vax, I…”

“About a week in,” Vax interrupted. Percy stopped talking, Vax needed to get this out and he needed to get it out now, “Vex and I had managed to gather enough supplies to hopefully make it to the next town. Vex knew what I had been doing, so she wanted to get the fuck out of there, can’t say I disagreed, so we were getting ready to leave that night.” Vax was still looking at the wall, refusing to look at Percy.

“We open the door about to leave, and he’s right there, knife in hand. Apparently he had heard about our plans to leave earlier.” Another humorless chuckle.

“He shanked me, he got one good stab in before Vex knocked him out with a vase I think it was. And we left…” Vax turned back to face Percy as he tried to shimmy out of his grasp. Instead Percy tightened his grip and moved his lips to Vax’s collarbone, kissing it lightly. The half-elf relaxed at the kiss.

“You act as though we’re all Saints,” Percy said between kisses leading up the neck, “We’ve all done things we’re not proud of Vax’ildan, and for far less noble reasons.” Up the jawline as Percy turned Vax’s head. Their lips met as Percy’s hand massaged over the scar once more, circling over the skin in small precise motions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Headcanons abound!


	6. Day 13: In A Fairytale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided to do these prompts in a less strict order, instead do them as I get inspiration!

“About how much longer is your sister supposed to be out?” Gilmore asked as he inspected one of the glass vials at the counter.

“Hopefully she’ll be back in another hour or so.” Vax replied as he hunched over the counter looking at the same vial. It meant nothing to Vax but it gave him something to do. 

“Where exactly was she going?” Sherri, another worker in the store, asked as she was hauling a box across the room.

“The woods nearby. She likes to take Trinket out every now and again, helps her relax and calm down,” Vax explained as he tried to touch a vial before getting his hand smacked by Gilmore, “She always brings back something good to eat so I can hardly complain.” He chuckled at the last bit, only to fade when she saw the look Sherri was giving her.

“She’s not going to the woods near-” Before she could even finish her sentence, there was a thump at the door. Suddenly, a big brown bear came through, almost smashing the glass.

“Trinket?” Vax was puzzled as the bear rushed over to him. There was something in his mouth, which Vax quickly discovered to be a broken bow. There was a sense of dread in the pit of Vax’s stomach.

“Take me to her Trinket, take me there right now!” Vax ordered the bear who immediately ran back out the store trailed by Vax.

 

~~~~

Sometime later, Vax and Trinket were in the middle of the woods. Vax shivered as he brought his cloak closer to him. He….really didn’t think this whole thing through did he?

“How much farther?” he asked the bear before mentally slapping himself. Despite his sister’s constant insistence, Trinket couldn’t actually talk back to him.

Said bear had his snout placed onto the ground. They had found the place Vex and Trinket had been separated a while back, but thankfully the bear was able to pick up her scent again and continue on. 

Another little while passed before Trinket made a grunting noise and stopped. Vax noticed this and followed suit before looking directly in front of them, mouth agape. 

Before them stood a massive castle, as white as the snow they were walking in. There were torn flags blowing from the towers and the stone was starting to look chipped in places. What managed to really capture Vax’s attention was the rolling smoke the surrounded the forest floor, lapping at Vax’s legs in an eerie manner.

“Is this where the scent ends?” Vax turned to the bear, who gave another grunt of what Vax assumed to be confirmation. He looked around and noticed that the door to the castle seemed to be undone. Feeling the structure to make sure, Vax then pushed the door open with a low creaking noise. Vax noticed a lantern by the door and lit it with the matchbook on his possession. 

“Vex!” he called out as he walked further in, Trinket following behind him, “Vex’ahlia!” he called again through the dim lighting before pausing. He thought he heard a faint noise and listened for a full minute. He could hear a faint…something. Vax wasn’t too sure of what exactly the noise was, but he was able to get a good enough listen to be able to track it.

Going through what seemed like an endless amount of hallways stairs, Vax finally made it to what seemed like a dungeon of some sort. The noise was getting louder as he got closer, reaching a peak when he made it to one of the cells.

“Sister!” The noise Vax had heard was the sound of rattling chains as Vex tried to free herself. Hearing her brother’s voice, she stopped struggling and turned to him. She had a look of relief and happiness on her face at first, but it quickly turned into one of panic and worry.

“Brother, get out of here!” she whispered, “He can’t know you’re in here. Oh Gods he might already know you’re here!” 

“I didn’t come all this way to not help you my stubborn sister.” Vax tried to lighten the mood, but Vex was having none of it.

“I’m serious! Something lives here and I don’t know what…” Right then, Vax could feel himself being pulled up by his cloak and dropped the lantern. The lantern’s light flickered out, leaving only the moon to illuminate the area.

“Hehehe, looks like I found a rat,” Vax could hear low, almost playful voice as the thing breathed down his neck, “Found another one sir!” The creature bellowed to the other side of the room. Vax could now hear Trinket’s strained roars among what seemed to be…hoof steps?

“Thank you Grog, but lower him just a bit.” An eerily calm voice breathed out, making Vax stop in his struggle. He tried to turn to the source of the new voice, but they had managed to hide in a corner where no light shone through.

“What are you doing here?” the new voice asked in a firm tone. Vax swallowed his fear in an attempt to seem unfazed.

“I was looking for my sister.” The answer had almost no shake to it, and Vax was proud of that.

“And it seems you found her,” The voice retorted and Vax swears he thinks he could see the figure turn…whatever it had for a head towards his sister, “Now you can be on your way.” He added.

“I will happily be on my way once I get my sister out.” Vax was angry now at the figure’s nonchalant attitude. 

“I’m afraid you can’t do that…I, desperately need your sister for something.” The ominous tone made Vax sweat even harder than he had before.

“Oh, no, no no no, you’re not using my sister for whatever weird shit you got planned!”

“I’m afraid that’s not up for negotiation. Grog, please show our…guest to the door.” Vax felt himself being pulled back up as the creature behind him darkly chuckled.

“Right sir, out the door with you!” 

Vax’s brain was going a mile a minute, trying to come up with something, anything to get his sister out. 

“Wait!” Vax shouted. He could feel the figure turn to his direction as Grog? stopped with an irritated huff, “What about me?” Vax’s brain had shut off at this point, spewing just about anything at this moment.

“Beg pardon?” the figure asked.

“Do you need specifically my sister? Or will anyone do?” Vax was praying to whatever God was listening that it was the latter, otherwise he was fucked.

“Are you telling me you want to trade yourself for your sister?” the figure seemed caught off guard for the first time that night, and Vax wanted to take advantage of that.

“Exactly, take me instead.”

“Vax, what are you-”

“Deal,” The figure’s response was simple, “Grog, remove the chains and see her and the bear out.” He ordered the giant behind Vax. The creature roughly dropped Vax to the ground and stomped towards the cell. The door opened with a creak and Vax could hear the sound of breaking chains, then the sounds of his sister struggling.

“Vax!” she screamed out as the giant hoisted her over his shoulder, her kicks and hits not even fazing him.

“Vex!” he shouted back as he tried to rush towards her. Right then, Vax could feel the figure move and grab his arm, “Let go of me you bastard!” Vax managed to brush the odd feeling arm right as he felt something grab at his feet. The mystery thing slithered its way up his leg, halting his movements. All Vax could do at that point was shout out for his sister, which seem to be drowned in her own screams and bear roars. Vax screamed until his voice was raw, sliding down to his knees as he shook in anger, fear, and sorrow as the noises faded into nothing.

“You bastard!” Vax turned and shouted to the figure, who was now partially illuminated by the moonlight. Vax took note of long claws coming out of a pitch-black arm, his anger turned to worry and fear.

“You made your choice,” The voice was shaken, but maintained calmness nonetheless, “I’ll have Grog put you in your sister’s cell once he gets back.”

“Wait m’lord!” a new voice, female, called out. Vax tried to find the source, but was too consumed with panic at the moment to really focus. He could, however, feel the figure turn their head, “What about one of the guest rooms?” she asked, trying her best to sound convincing despite her faltering tone, “We’re not a prison m’lord, so I don’t-”

“Very well.” The figure sighed while interrupting her. The booming footsteps of the giant came back into the dungeon.

“Taken care of sir!” the giant said happily, “Ready for me to chain up the new one?”

“That won’t be needed Grog, take him up to one of the guest rooms.” The figure requested as they turned and walked up the stairs. Their footsteps were something Vax had never heard before. He didn’t have much time to think about it before he was lifted up once more, this time hoisted up on the giant’s shoulders. Vax knew that it would be pointless to struggle and instead gritted his teeth, trying to stop the tears that were falling down his face.

Moments later, Vax could hear the creaking of another door being opened. The giant then threw him onto what felt like a bed.

“Now you’d better stay put, unless you want to be jelly.” The giant threatened as he closed the door. Vax took only a moment to compose himself before rushing to the door. He pushed and fiddled with the handle, but the door didn’t seem to budge even an inch. Vax then turned to the window and looked out, It seemed he was up higher than he originally thought, as the ground was quite a distance from him at this point. 

“Fuck fuck fuck!” Vax cursed as he ran a hand through his hair and tried to calm his breathing, “Fuck!” he threw himself onto the bed, at a loss of what to do.

He…really didn’t think this through, did he?

“Vex, I’m sorry.” Vax whispered. 

 

~~~~

Vax slept for only a few minutes that night, partly out of fear for what might come through that door. If whoever owned this house was enough to scare Vex, his sister who owned a fucking bear as a pet, then he needed to be on his toes. He lost track of time, so it was difficult to say exactly when he started to hear the voices outside his door. Vax strained to hear them, but it was difficult to tell them apart. He could only tell that one of the voices sounded irritated.

“BIGBY’S HAND~” the musical shout was followed by a gigantic purple hand breaking the door. Vax jumped from the bed, taking as much a defensive stance as he could. 

“Scanlan!” The redhead shouted at the shortest of the trio, who walked into the room through the rubble. Vax recognized the voice as the one in the dungeon.

“Well, at the very least we got through the door. That’s a good start.” The scaly one commented to the redhead as the short one (Scanlan?) stopped in front of Vax.

“Please, take a seat. Keyleth will fix your door for you.” The short one nodded at the redhead (Keyleth?). She nodded back as magic started flowing through her hands and into the remaining pieces of the door. They reassembled themselves back into the form of the door, opened this time.

“All right, now that that’s taken care of. Scanlan, Scanlan Shorthalt pleasure to meet you,” The short one introduced himself, giving off a smile Vax could only describe as charming, “The other two are Keyleth and…”

“I’m Tiberius Stormwind, from Draconia!” The scaly one interrupted Scanlan as he entered the room, hand outstretched. Vax only started at the hand, hesitant, before finally taking it and shaking it lightly.

“Thank you for that Tiberius…” Scanlan sighed before turning back to Vax, “Now, I understand you may have gotten off on the wrong foot, or hoof, with the lord of the house.”

“I’m starting to rethink that, at least he didn’t break down my door.” Vax retorted after letting go of Tiberius’s hand.

“You know he does have a point Scanlan.” Keyleth finally entered the room as well and Vax was starting to feel claustrophobic.

“Well, that wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t locked yourself in here. The Lord’s been worried about you.”

“Oh how kind of him,” The sarcasm was very prominent Vax’s tone, “If he’s so concerned then why not just let me leave?”

“Well, you see, there’s a lot of….he can’t just….it’s a bit more complicated than that my good sir.” Tiberius bumbled out the non-explanation.

“Plus, you traded places with your sister if you’ll remember,” Scanlan reminder made the sadness in Vax well up again. He didn’t even have the chance to say goodbye…Keyleth must have taken note of this and slowly started to place a hand on his shoulder, which Vax immediately brushed off.

“Trust me I remember,” Vax stated, “Just because I said I’d take her place doesn’t mean I intend to do whatever the fuck it is your Lord wants of me.”

“We understand that you might feel a little, apprehensive about the whole thing…” Scanlan began to explain.

“I can’t say I really blame him, his sister was removed from the castle rather forcibly,” Tiberius interrupted once more. Vax was beginning to notice that Scanlan’s charming smile was starting to show irritation. He’d almost be amused if it weren’t for his current circumstances, “We may need to talk to him about that Keyleth.”

“Great, how about you two do that while I continue this lovely conversation with…what did you say your name was again?” Scanlan asked as he began to push Tiberius and Keyleth out of the room.

“I didn’t.” was the short and bitter reply.

“Well, I know I really don’t want to just keep calling you ‘prisone-guest,’” Scanlan quickly corrected himself. Vax only sighed in irritation, what would be the harm? They already had him pretty much locked up here.

“Vax’ildan.” He replied so that all three could hear.

“Excellent, you two go talk to the lord and I’ll continue this lovely chat with Vax.” Scanlan finally managed to push both confused individuals out of the room and shut the door with a sigh escaping his lips.

“They try, but you can probably tell they’re not the most…sociable of the staff here,” Scanlan tried to give a laugh, but Vax only continued to give him that angry stare, “Look, I completely understand that, you’re pissed off there’s no other way to put it. I don’t blame you; I’d be the same way.” Scanlan’s attempt at being understanding was grating Vax’s last bit of patience.

“However,” Scanlan added, “You’re not making this any better on yourself. Everyone in this castle sees you as a guest, except for you Vax’ildan. It won’t do you or my lord any good to keep this act up.”

“So you expect me to be complacent to you lord’s wishes?”

“Not necessarily. The lord doesn’t even really expect anything of you for the most part.”

“Then why not let me leave this fucking castle!?” If Scanlan had been taken aback by Vax’s shouting, he was very good at hiding it.

“I can’t go into any details. Its part of a much bigger issue at hand,” Scanlan explained, “However, I think I can help your situation out, at least a bit.” Vax didn’t say anything, letting the other continue.

“If you could just come to dinner tonight and talk with the lord, I think it would be in your best interest.” 

Vax bit on his lower lip, thinking about what the other man just said.

“Let’s say I go to this dinner, can I leave?” he asked.

“Well, not right off the bat no. Butttt, depending on how it goes tonight I can put a word in.” Scanlan shrugged at the offer. Vax sighed and ran a hand through his long hair.

“What have I got to lose?” He asked more to himself, “Alright, tell Lord whaterverthefuckhisnameis that I’ll be down for dinner tonight. Now can I please get some privacy?” 

“Excellent! I’m sure he’ll be pleased!” Scanlan’s smile seemed more genuine this time as he clasped his hands together and hurried out the room, re-shutting the door on his way out. Vax sat back down on the bed and laid down, staring at the ceiling with a sad look.

 

~~~~

“I really hope he’s managed to calm down since last night.” Keyleth wondered aloud as she and Tiberius walked down a hall to a nearby room. The door was partially opened, but Keyleth still knocked on the opened portion.

“Come in.” a voice called out before Keyleth pushed the door further open. She entered in gently, Tiberius trailing behind her.

“Good morning Percy.” Keyleth greeted in a cheerful tone to a figure on the sofa in the room.

The figure’s most prominent features were the black skin, hooved feet, horns sticking out of his head, and the white hair that heavily contrasted with his dark skin. The figure, Percy, rose to greet Keyleth, his tail twitching at the new movements and a thin smoke lapping at his hooves.

“A good morning to you Keyleth, and to you Tiberius.” Percy nodded to the both of them.

“Good morning to you Lord de Rollo.” Tiberius slightly bowed at the horned man.

“Are you feeling okay?” Keyleth asked, the concern heavy in her voice, “Ya know, after what…happened last night?”

Percy let out a long sigh as he ran a hand through his hair.

“Yes, I suppose I am,” he answered to the best of his ability, “Tiberius, did you see to the sister?”

“That I did m’lord!” Tiberius responded excitingly, “After Grog knocked them out, I was able to transport them back into the nearby town with our sigil! I then made sure to break it afterwards, but it’s still up here,” Tiberius pointed to his head, “And over there!” He pointed to a nearby bookshelf. Percy couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Good good, thank you very kindly Tiberius,” Percy’s tone showed genuine gratitude, but also a hint of sadness, “I just…I’m just wondering if this will work.” He sounded nervous.

“Well, with all due respect Percy, you sorta blew any chance you had with the sister when you locked her up in the dungeon.” Keyleth gave his a disapproving glance, “Why did you think that was a good idea if I may ask?”

“It’s just…..I don’t know!” the defensiveness was clear in Percy’s voice, “Keyleth…so many have come and they’ve all ran on site…I just got tired of it, and in the moment I thought maybe I could convince her otherwise after she settled down…” Percy sighed as he put his clawed hands up to the bridge of his nose, removing his glasses and rubbing.

“Well, at least now we have the brother.” Tiberius tried to lighten the mood, “Though, he didn’t seem too fond of us when we went to check up on him.”

“Scanlan breaking down the door probably didn’t help…” 

“Well your highness, in Scanlan’s defense, the stone wall you put over his door was a little tricky to get rid of…”

“I panicked! I thought the moment Grog left he’d try to escape!” Keyleth defended right as Scanlan entered the room.

“Lord Percival, I’m about to be your favorite Gnome Bard.” He declared with a confidence perfectly matching Scanlan.

“Well, you’re the only Gnome Bard in the castle, but alright what did you do?” Percy asked as he placed his glasses back on.

“I’ve managed to convince our guest to join you tonight for dinner,” Scanlan smoothly replied, “And he promises to…at least try and be on his best behavior.”

“Well done Scanlan!” Tiberius cheered, “And here I thought he hated all of us.”

“Oh he probably does, but he thinks he has a shot of getting out if he comes down, so that still works out for us.”

“Scanlan, why would you lie to him?” Keyleth moved her disapproving glance to the gnome.

“Well, I mean technically it’s not a lie. If this works out then we’ll all get to leave, including him.” Scanlan explained himself with a slightly sheepish grin.

“Nonetheless,” Percy interrupted them, “It would be best to take advantage of his cooperation. Maybe we can convince him to come out more without lies.” Percy turned to Scanlan, whose grin only grew, and smiled, “Thank you Scanlan.”

“Anything for you m’lord. Now, you need to get ready for tonight!”

“Beg pardon?”

“Do you expect to charm anyone with that outfit m’lord?” Scanlan raised an eyebrow in question, “There’s still black powder at the hem of your coat…” Percy immediately lifted his coat in an attempt to shake the powder off.

“I’ll…I’ll have Pike help you out m’lord. The rest of us have a dinner, and an atmosphere, to prepare.” Scanlan grabbed Keyleth and Tiberius by the arm and dragged them out of the room. 

 

~~~~

Vax had decided to come out of his room once the sun started to set. Though he had washed his face and attempted to make his hair look presentable, he was still in the clothes he wore the night before. 

Vax followed the dimly lit torches through the hallways and into what he believed to be a dining room. There was a long table brightly lit with candles and decorated with glistening silverware. Vax took his cloak and placed it over a nearby rack before taking a seat at one end of the table.

Soon after, Vax heard a loud humming as booming footsteps entered the dining room. Though he had not seen the creature’s face the night before, Vax was able to recognize the voice of the giant that threw him into the bedroom and visibly tensed. 

Grog finally entered the dining room wearing a chef’s hat and carrying what appeared to be a large platter. Now that Vax could get a better look, he could see the giant’s grey skin, tattoos, and a…beard covering his face. Grog seemed giddy as he placed the platter onto the table, only for that to disappear as soon as he saw Vax on the other side of the table.

“Oh great, I got my ass kicked by the cook…” Vax sneered.

“Fuckin’ right you did!” Grog bellowed. He was about to say something else when something made him stop. He raised a hand to what Vax saw was an earring, “What’s that? Oh for fuck’s sake!” Grog huffed as he lowered his hand, still staring at Vax, “You stay put, there’s still time before dessert.” He darkly chuckled as he left the dining hall. Vax gave him the double finger before leaning back in his chair.

 

~~~~

“M’lord, please get out of there!” A short female shouted at a corner of the room. A large mirror and a variety of clothes decorated the room. 

“No!” the short response from the corner made the female huff in irritation.

“We’ve spent hours preparing m’lord! Your guest will be at the dining hall any moment and you just want him to wait?” she asked.

“He hates me Pike!” Percy tried to reason with the short woman, but to no avail.

“You do realize you sound like a child right now, with all due respect m’lord.” 

“I don’t care.” This was a much calmer response. Pike was about to say something else when Grog entered the room.

“What’cha need Pike?” he asked her. Pike’s irritated expression became one of relief.

“Oh thank Sarenrae. Grog, can you please help ‘escort’ m’lord to the dining hall? He seems to be having cold feet.” Pike asked her friend, who immediately walked over to the corner.

“Grog don’t you dare, I order you-”

“I don’t work under you sir! I work under Pike…who just happens to work under you.” Grog stated as he hoisted Percy over his shoulder and left.

 

~~~~

Vax was fiddling with one of the forks in front of him when familiar booming footsteps made him tense. Grog had returned, still with the chef’s hat, but this time with someone hoisted over his shoulder. The imagery was all too familiar to Vax and he tensed up even more. Grog cleared his throat with his free hand.

“Presenting, the honorable Lord Percival Fredr…Fre…aw fuck it here’s Percy!” Grog placed the figure onto the opposite chair. Vax’s eyes widen at the newcomer, taking in their peculiar features. The newcomer looked equally confused as he looked around the room, finally stopping at Vax.

“Ummm, thank you for that Grog.” the figure awkwardly stated as Grog left the room, still staring at Vax, “Um…good evening, Vax’ildan was it?” he asked.

“Just Vax.” Was the answer. Vax tried to not let his irritation show, as he had promised Scanlan earlier, but the curt reply didn’t help matters, “Percival?” Vax tried to even things out.

“Just Percy if you don’t mind, my name’s rather long as Grog just showed.” Percy fidgeted with his clawed hands. 

“Which would be?”

“Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III” Vax’s eyes widen.

Right then, the brightly lit room dimmed save for one spotlight on the dishes. 

“Oh Pelor give me strength not this again.” Percy mumbled just loud enough for Vax to hear right before the dishes started to…they were moving, the dishes were fucking moving…

“Be. Our. Guest~ Be our guest~” The voice seemed to come from nowhere, but Vax was able to recognize it as Keyleth singing as music filled the air. The dishes started dancing instead of just moving, performing what Vax thought to be fairly intricate choreography. Percy just held his head in his hands and Vax could’ve sworn he was a shade darker, if he was able to be any darker.

Vax wasn’t sure if it was him finally realizing his circumstances, the scene before him, or if he was just going batshit crazy, but he started to laugh. At first it was just a giggle, but soon it erupted into a full-blown laugh that made everyone stop and look at him, even the dishes, which only caused Vax to laugh harder to the point where his head was on the table and his hand was clutching his stomach.

The laughter caused Vax to not notice Percy coming up next to him until a few moments later.

“Perhaps we can start over, at a slightly smaller table?” Percy suggested as he held out his hand. With his free hand, Vax grabbed onto Percy and used it to lift himself up.

“Sure, why not?” Vax responded between laughs. Percy tightened his grip and started to lead Vax into a nearby room. This room was dimly lit and held a much smaller table decorated with a much smaller selection of food. 

“I had asked Scanlan, the short one, to prepare this in case Keyleth, Pelor bless Keyleth she tries so hard, tried that routine. She’s been wanting an excuse to do that for Pelor knows how long.” Percy explained as he held out a chair, “After you.”

Vax sat down, a smirk starting to form as he leaned back into the chair, “Seems like most of the people here are rather…unique,” Vax stated with a laugh as Percy sat down opposite to him and started to pour from a bottle of wine on the table, “Though it does make me feel a little less like an asshole to see the lord of the house be as reluctant as me to attend this.” 

“Yes, well…I figured I would be the last person you wanted to see after our little…confrontation last night.” Percy handed one of the wine-filled glasses over to Vax, who sniffed the edge slightly before taking a cautious sip. 

“Well, you’re not completely wrong…” Vax’s chuckle was humorless. Percy gave a small sigh.

“I wanted to apologize for that,” Percy started after taking a small sip of his own wine, “Grog gets a little excited sometimes, he used to be the castle’s bodyguard and cook, but he hasn’t had much to do for some time…” 

Vax raised an eyebrow at that last part as he looked over Percy’s facial features, trying to see if he could find any hint of deception.

“Look, m’lor-”

“Just Percy if you please.”

“Percy…I pride myself on being able to read people, and you seem to be genuinely sorry about last night,” Vax confessed, which seemed to catch Percy off-guard, “Which makes me want to ask again, why not let me leave if you seem so reluctant about this?” 

Percy let out a deep sigh, taking his free hand to rub his forehead (at least, what part of his forehead that wasn’t covered with horns). Vax noticed that Percy’s claws kept getting caught on his horns, almost as if he wasn’t quite use to them?

“I know you’ve heard this already and it’s just going to make you even more-”

“You can’t tell me, can you?”

“No, no I cannot, for reasons that are out of my control,” Percy stared Vax in the eye, “You have no reason to, but you have to trust me when I say that if I was able to, I’d happily tell you what’s going on and why I need you. I’m so sorry that I have to leave you in the dark…” Percy apologized once more. 

Vax again attempted to see any signs of deception, but the lord seemed genuinely upset by this (If only Vex were here, he thought to himself, she’d be able to read him like a book). Vax only sighed and took another sip of wine.

“Very well then Percival, I suppose that’s the end of that for now.” the defeat was evident in Vax’s tone.

“Perhaps we should change subjects?” Percy suggested, “I’m fairly certain you’re more than a little curious about…these??” he pointed to the horns protruding from his head. Vax gave a small chuckle, which seemed to have more humor in it.

The two talked throughout the evening about whatever topic came to mind, though the conversations were brief and fairly awkward. After about an hour or so, Vax finally decided to retire for the night. Percy followed Vax up to his room.

“Good night to you, Vax’ildan.”

“Good night m’lord.” Vax’s smirk was the most Vax-like it had been since last night, though Vax was the only one to know this as he closed his door for the night.

 

~~~~

Keyleth hummed to herself as she walked along the hallway, getting ready to attend to the private garden in the back. She only stopped when she heard hoof-steps down below. Keyleth looked over the banister of the staircase to see Percy with…Vax. 

“Your highness, there’s something I need…what are you looking at,” Tiberius quickly came up next to her and followed her pleased glance.

Percy and Vax were standing in the main room of the castle, talking to one another. Though neither could be heard, Keyleth and Tiberius could tell that the two seemed to be enjoying one another’s company, with Vax even laughing at something Percy had said.

“Oh my, looks like they’re having a nice time, perhaps we should…” Keyleth grabbed his arm and went the other direction.

 

~~~~

“And here is the forge,” Percy explained as he pointed to a large piece of metal. Vax’s eyes widen over the whole workshop, gazing over all the half-finished gadgets and tools that were scattered about. He let out a low whistle.

“Percival,” Percy had stopped correcting Vax’s use of his name at this point, “You have quite an impressive setup here.” He chuckled. The past few days Vax had started feeling better, more like himself. Though he didn’t know him from before, Percy was able to pick up on that, and would send a silent thank you to Pelor every time Vax would laugh genuinely or speak without venom in his tone. It was something that was starting to become music to Percy’s ears.

“Well, I’m happy you like it,” Percy let out a small chuckle. Though he had been making progress, the lord couldn’t help but still feel slightly nervous around his guest, though for a different reason entirely, “It’s hardly something I show to everyone, in fact I think only Keyleth’s been in here, and that was to force me to eat dinner ehehe,” He explained nervously, “So where next?”

“It’s your castle Percival, after you.” Vax waved an arm in front of him.

“Alright then, I believe we still haven’t covered the library, and then…” Percy kept listing places as they left the workshop.

 

~~~~

“Vax, is everything alright?” Percy asked over dinner. Vax had barely touched his food and was scraping his fork against his plate. He had seemed distracted all evening, only showing even a sense of focus at Percy’s question.

“Um…yeah, I’m fine.” Vax weakly reassured, but Percy was not to be fooled. All day it had seemed like Vax was slowly becoming a less fiery version of him the night they met, distant and closed-off. Percy could feel his heart breaking.

“I find that hard to believe,” Percy tried to combat this with something Vax would enjoy, banter, “Grog’s barely yelled at you today, so something must be wrong.” Percy could feel a weight over his heart lift slightly as he heard Vax laugh.

“It’s just…” Vax sighed, “my sister, I’m…well I’m worried about her.” Percy mentally slapped himself, how could he forget about his sister? It was completely understandable, yet it still made a pit of despair form in the pit of his stomach.

“You want to go home?” Percy tried, oh did he try, but the disappointment in his tone was very noticeable.

“For a bit yes, just to make sure Vex is okay, then I’d happily return here,” The answer surprised Percy, his tail twitching in anticipation, “I…I know you still need me for something, but I-”

“Done.”

“Beg pardon?” Vax asked as Percy rose from his seat.

“Tiberius!” Percy called out as Vax rose from his seat and followed the lord.

“Yes, yes Lord de Rollo?” Tiberius asked as he exited one of the rooms.

“I need the mirror.” Percy ordered with his firm but kind tone, the tone he only used when something serious was about to happen.

“Why yes, of course!”

“And the ring!”

“Oh…oh my.” Tiberius seemed very surprised as he led the two into the room he just left. Vax was amazed by the scrolls and books that littered the room, the open ones were in a language Vax could only hope to understand one day.

As he was looking around the room, Tiberius was fishing around what appeared to be a desk, tail twitching in excitement. An excited yell came from the dragonborn.

“At last, here you are m’lord, the mirror and the ring.” He handed both items to Percy, who then turned back to Vax.

“What was the full name of your sister?”

“Vex’ahlia.” Vax answered confusedly. Percy turned to the mirror, the arcane energy emitting from it.

“Show me Vex’ahlia.” Percy commanded the mirror, the glass beginning to swirl as another image showed.

“Vex please, you have to think about this more carefully! Sherri keep blocking the door!” Gilmore’s image appeared in the mirror. He was holding Vex by the waist and shouting to Sherri, who was standing in front of the door.

“Gilmore.” Vax mumbled as he gently took the mirror from Percy, “Vex.”

“I don’t care!” his sister shouted as she continued struggling, “Vax is out there! Something has him!”

“Vex, I know you’re worried about him, but you almost died out there!”

“I don’t care! I don’t care!” Vex screamed throughout what Vax assumed to be the shop. Suddenly, the image changed once more and Vax’s reflection was staring back at him.

“Oh Gods, she’ll get herself killed if she tries to come back out here!” Panic was dripping from Vax’s voice as he ran a hand through his hair. Percy nodded back to Tiberius, who handed him the other item in his possession.

“Vax,” Percy tried to get his attention. Vax turned, the panic still in his eyes, “You need to go to her,” Percy added as he took Vax’s hand in his own, placing the ring on his finger, “This ring is connected to the sigil in the nearby town, it’ll take you directly there if you turn it three times counterclockwise,” he demonstrated by turning it only once, “And right back if you turn three times clockwise.” He demonstrated again before looking at Vax in the eye, “Take a week to see your sister, and then come back to the castle…back to me.” He added in that last part as he lifted Vax’s hand to his lips, placing a gentle kiss where the ring was. Vax could feel his face getting hotter as he pulled his hand back, looking at the ring.

“Thank you Percival,” Was all Vax could really say at the moment before taking in a deep breath to compose himself, “Looks like I’ll have to pay you back for that, you sneaky bastard.” Vax gave a wink that would have made his sister proud before turning the ring the way Percy had shown him.

In an instant Vax’s surroundings changed, now there were boxes and wooden planks to replace Percy and Tiberius. Taking a moment, Vax realized that he was still holding the mirror and placed it in his pouch. Vax also heard noises coming from the room adjacent to him. Sneakily going towards the door, Vax peeked through the opening, and saw that it was the image he had just seen only moments before.

“There’s nothing you can do to stop me Gimore!” Vex shouted, having finally released herself from his grip, “Sherri move!” She ordered the employee, who did her best to stand her ground despite the worried look in her eye. Vax decided it was time to give her some relief.

“If I had known you’d be like this sister, I would have done this a long time ago.” Vax slipped through the door and tried to give his best brotherly-teasing tone. Vex froze in place before turning to him, Gilmore and Sherri doing the same.

“Va…” Vex didn’t even bother finishing his name before running to him, capturing him in a vice-like embrace.

“Sister, can’t breathe.” He returned the hug, which she only tightened.

“Good, you deserve it for worrying me so fucking much you bastard!”

“Well, technically we’re both bastards.” A jab to his ribs told Vax now was not the time as they returned to hugging.

 

~~~~

“Are you sure this is a good idea m’lord? What if he doesn’t come back?” Vax had just left Percy and Tiberius alone in the room. 

“I…I trust him,” hooves clicked the floorboards as Percy left the room, “I know we didn’t have the best start, but I trust him, wholeheartedly.” Percy made sure he wasn’t facing Tiberius, doing his best to hide the blush covering his face. He kissed him, he actually kissed him! It wasn’t on the mouth, but still….

“Pelor help me.” Percy mumbled as he walked down the hallway.

 

~~~~

A week had passed like a flash as the twins spent time together, catching up on what had happened in the time Vax was gone right up til the day his week was supposed to end.

“You can’t go brother!” Vex pleaded as Vax finished packing up his belongings. Since he had more time to prepare, Vax decided to grab his personal belongings.

“Sister,” Vax took his hand to cup her cheek, “I have to, it’s part of my deal to keep you safe.” He pulled her into a hug, “Besides, it’s like I’ve been telling you all week, Percivial’s hardly the monster we’ve made him out to be.”

“And I still think he’s got you charmed.” Vex argued sadly, causing Vax to pull back from the hug and flicking his sister in the forehead.

“Would I have done that if I was charmed?” Vax asked before sticking his tongue out in a taunt. Vex retaliated by doing the same, forcing her to pull fully from the hug, which caused something to clank onto the floor. Vax looked to see that it was the mirror Percy had given him, “I have proof!” he grabbed the mirror.

“We’re gorgeous brother, but I doubt that’s going to help you here.” Vex smirked.

“Hardly sister, but it will help me show you, Percy’s a dork, adorable, but a dork.” Vax couldn’t hide the blush forming as he stared at the mirror, “Show me Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III I fucking nailed it!” he shouted as the image changed on the mirror, causing Vex’s eyes to widen, at what remained a mystery.

The mirror showed an image that made Vax’s smile immediately vanish. There was Percy with his easily recognizable features, lying on his bed weak and barely alive. Pike was right at his bedside, tears in her eyes as healing magic flowed through the two. Before the image vanished, Vax noticed that Pike looked as if she was…fading away.

“No…no!” Vax shouted as he immediately went for his ring and started to turn it clockwise.

“Brother, wait!” Vex shouted as she grabbed her brother’s arm at the last turn, making them both disappear in an instant.

 

~~~~

“Keyleth! Tiberius! Scanlan! Grog!” Vax shouted as he ran out of Tiberius’s room and into the hallway, followed by his sister, “Where the fuck is everyone?!” he continued to shout as he tried to remember where Percy’s room was.

It took him a few moments, but he was finally able to remember where the room was, it was one of the first rooms Percy showed him. Vex had remained oddly quiet throughout the whole thing, realizing her brother didn’t need her input at the moment.

“Percival!” Vax’s voice was starting to feel raw as he pushed through the door. His heart dropped at what he saw, everyone in the castle was at Percy’s bedside, sadness covering their faces. Even Scanlan couldn’t be bothered to do anything other than strum his lute as Vax entered the room. They all looked tired and, more transparent.

“Vax?” Keyleth was the one to break the silence, turning to the pair. She looked so weak that Vax immediately stopped her as she tried to get up to greet him, such a contrast to the peppy girl he had seen only a week ago.

“What happened?” Vax wanted her to expend as little energy as possible.

“About two days ago, he just collapsed. We don’t know what happened. Pike’s been doing her best, but…” she didn’t dare finish the sentence as tears rolled down her face. Vax squeezed her hands one last time before rushing over past the rest of the group. Grog didn’t even look like he had the energy to shout as he brushed past him over to Percy’s bedside, opposite to Pike.

“Percy, please…” Wet and dried tears were mixed on Pike’s face as magical energy flowed through her into Percy, who was breathing heavily.

“Pe…Percy, Percival?” Vax asked weakly. It must have been loud enough, however, as the lord turned to face him, eyes barely opened.

“Vax?” the voice was even weaker than Keyleth’s, “You came back?”

“Of course I did, I promised you I would.” Vax snuck a hand into Percy’s clawed ones intertwining them.

“You did didn’t you?” he chuckled weakly, causing him to give a dry cough, “Sorry about that, I can’t help but be paranoid sometime you know? But, I’m happy, I’m so happy I got to see you again.” Percy tightened his grip on Vax’s hand.

“Heh, I told you I’d pay you back, and I hate being in debt.” Vax didn’t care that there were others in the room, even his own sister; he leaned in a grabbed Percy’s lips with his own, using his free hand to run through Percy’s hair. He wanted the kiss to last as long as it possibly could; only pulling back when he needed air, “Percy I’m so sorry.”

Right then, Vax could feel that the feeling in the room’s tone had changed. He looked up to see everyone staring at him, looks of bewilderment all around him. Vax broke away when he felt a stinging sensation in the hand linked with Percy’s. He let go as a reaction before noting the light engulfing Percy. It was a different light from what Pike, who had also let of Percy, had been using at the time. 

Everyone in the room shielded their eyes and coughed as light and smoke filled the room. Percy’s screams followed suit and Vax swore he could hear the sound of bone’s cracking and moving.

A few minutes later, the screaming was replaced by heavy breathing. Vax lowered the arm shielding his eyes to see someone had replaced Percy’s form.

In the bed, there was a human male with pale skin, the same white hair, and deep blue eyes Vax thought he could easily get lost in. An un-clawed hand was running through a hornless forehead as he sat up in the bed, where Vax noticed a lack of a tail.

“Pe…Percy?” Vax asked cautiously. The new figure turned to him, his breathing having evened out. The worried look on his face was replaced with a tired, but happy smile.

“Hello there, Vax’ildan.” The same voice greeted him before leaning in and kissing him back before a thud broke them apart.

“Percy!”

“Lord de Rollo!”

“M’lord!”

“S’bout fucking time!” 

The shouts from the others in the castle were followed by almost tackle-hugs to Percy, who winced in pain. Vax noticed that they all looked much better than just moments prior, and less transparent.

“Ow ow ow.” Percy kept wincing in pain as Vax turned towards the door, where Vex was leaning against with an amused look. Pike walked up to Vax, giving him a big hug.

“You did it Vax! Thank you so much!” she shouted as the hug tightened.

“Um, I’ll happily take the thanks, once I realize what I just did.” He hardly thought locking lips with someone about to die was heroic, but Vax had seen weirder.

“This castle,” Percy began to explain while recovering from the onslaught of love, “was cursed quite some time ago, however I did not realize it until it was too late, otherwise I would have sent all the employees away.”

“You know we would’ve stayed m’lord!” 

“As the owner of the castle, I was the only one to change physically,” Percy motioned to where his horns use to be, “But as employees, everyone else was tied to the castle and were unable to leave the premises. Thankfully, Tiberius’s creative use of sigils, we were able to get what we needed to survive.”

“The curse,” Percy continued to explain, “ was only to be dispelled in one way,” he turned back to Vax and smile with a blush, “A…a kiss from the cursed’s love.” He finished as he turned away, face a deep crimson.

“If we couldn’t get someone charmed by Lord de Rollo, then he would be consumed by the smoke and we…we would all vanish.” Keyleth explained in Percy’s place, smiling at Vax’s equally red face.

“Well then, that explains quite a bit.” Vax had to laugh, it was the only thing he really thought to do.

“Would…would everyone mind leaving us for a bit?” Percy asked. Everyone in the room nodded and left, with Vex leaving last, not before giving her brother a small smirk.

“Well, this is the most awkward confession I’ve ever been part of.” Vax admitted as he used his free hand to rub the back of his head.

“Funny, this is the only confession I’ve ever been part of.” Percy noted before coughing into his free hand. The tense silence lasted only for a second before the two erupted into laughter, a loud simple laughter as they gripped their entwined hands tighter. Vax took his free hand and placed it behind Percy’s, pulling him into what he hoped to be a lifetime of kisses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thanks to @mylaminoki on twitter for providing the inspiration for Percy's beast form~!


	7. Day 18: One of Them is Sick

The sharp pang noises echoed through the workshop and out the door. Vax could only smile as he opened the door, noting his boyfriend being hard at work yet again.

 

The noise was interrupted by a cough as Vax made his way in, knocking on the door beforehand.

 

"Percival," he called out, "You're missing breakfast, I think there's still some ham that isn't on or in Grog."

 

"Right," Percy answered between coughs, "Sorry, I must have *cough* lost track of time *cough*" Percy had lifted his mask and had coughed into his glove.

 

Vax's smile had turned into a look of worry, "Are you okay Percy, you didn't come to bed last night..."

 

"I have no idea what you were taking about darling, I..." Percy knew that look Vax was giving him, "I slept in the cot..." He motioned weakly with his free hand before coughing once more.

 

"I can see the dust Percival," Vax walked up to the now dying forge, "Handsome and brilliant man, horribly shitty liar. Maybe you should stop for the day, you’ve been working on the new Pepperbox for weeks now." It was a statement, not a question. Vax looked over Percy, noting the dark circles around his eyes and the tinge of red around his nose and cheeks. Another cough.

 

"It’s just the dust, my allergies acting up nothing more. And I really need to complete this as soon as possible; I’d rather be prepared in case something comes up." This time there was a sniffle before another deeper and longer lasting cough into his glove.

 

"Percy, you still have Bad News, and I..."

 

"I'm fine, nothing to...nothing to…" with a thud Percy collapsed to the floor, with a wide-eyed Vax rushing to him.

 

"Pike! Kiki!" he called out from the workshop, cradling Percy's head.

~~~~~

They had managed to move Percy to the upstairs room, and in that time he had regained consciousness.

 

Pike and Keyleth were looking over Percy's face, which was pale and looked to be sunken in. The rest of Vox Machina was near the door, peering in to the best of their abilities.

 

“He’s running a fever too…” Keyleth mumbled as she put her lips to Percy’s forehead for a moment.

 

“These bags around his eyes…” Pike commented before getting up from her position on the bed, “Well, good news is, you’re just fine,” a loud sneeze from Percy, “for the most part…bad news, you’re not getting up from that bed for the next few days.”

 

“But…” Percy tried to protest before another coughing fit started. The one word came out muffled and nasally.

 

“Cleric’s orders, I don’t want you in that workshop, got it mister?” Pike did her best to look intimidating as she pointed a finger to Percy. She then turned to the door frame and pointed to Vax, “And you, I don’t want you in this room.” Everyone raised an eyebrow.

 

“It’s my room just as much as it is Percy’s.”

 

“Brother there’s still your old room…” Vax glared at his sister, who glared back.

 

“I’m not exactly sure if this is caused by Percy’s bad immune system,” Pike glared at Percy once more, “or if it’s contagious, Keyleth and I should be fine, but the rest of you are going to need to take extra precautions around him.”

 

“I don’t have the plague *cough* at least I don’t believe I do.” Another cough and Pike only rolled her eyes as her and Keyleth trailed to the other side of the door way.

 

“Here, these masks should help out, since I’m going to need everyone’s help for this.” Pike explained as she handed a small cloth to everyone, save for Vax.

 

“Pike, one short?”

 

“Nope, you’re not allowed in Percy’s…”

 

“Our…”

 

“In your room, not until it looks like he’s feeling better, alright?”

 

Vax could only sigh.

 

“Do I really have a choice in the matter?” he asked glumly. Pike gave him a small smile.

 

“It’ll just be a few days, it’ll fly by I promise!” Pike was trying to give off her usual cheery self, but it didn’t seem to reach Vax, who only sighed again and walked off in the other direction.

 

“Make sure he doesn’t get in the room, okay guys? And we need to make sure Percy actually rests, alright?” The remaining members of Vox Machina nodded their heads in agreement.

 

~~~~

 

Vax clung to what little shadows he could as he crawled along the wall, the daylight working against him. He slinked down the hall to a familiar door, smirking at his soon-to-be victory.

 

“You do know it’s the middle of the day, right Vax?” At that moment, Vax felt himself being pulled up by a purple force.

 

“Fucking…Scanlan!”

 

“Every lady in Exandria wishes they were,” The gnome stood in front of Vax, mask over his face, “Sorry Vax, as much as I’d love to help, Pike’s orders.”

 

“Tell me, if Pike asked you to….wait don’t answer that…” Vax sighed as he felt himself being pulled in the other direction, “Wait wait wait, no!”

 

“Bigby, baby, mind taking care of him for me?” with a charming wink, the gnome turned around, letting the magical force do its work. The curses of Vax slowly fading, Scanlan knocked on the door, “Percy, I have lunch.” And then he opened the door.

 

There was a rustling sound as Scanlan creaked the door further open. He was greeted by a rather guilty-looking Percy, sitting straight up and hand on the other side of the bed. Scanlan raised an eyebrow.

 

“Percy, you wouldn’t happen to be tinkering would you?”

 

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about, now about that…” Though Percy was not a magic user, being around Scanlan did teach him how to sense when magic was being used. Percy could only think of one thing.

 

He was fucking using Friends again.

 

“Percy, could you please,” Scanlan did his best to look adorable, “hand that over to me?”

 

With a heavy sigh and another coughing fit, Percy lifted his hand from the side of the bed, showing what appeared to be a potential barrel, and handed it over to Scanlan.

 

“Please, for the love of Pelor, do not throw it in acid….” The request came out meekly.

 

“I make no promises,” Scanlan pocketed the barrel and placed the tray he was carrying down on the nightstand, “By the way, just to ease a curious gnome, do you and Vax have a ‘No crumbs in the bed’ type rule with this stuff?” Percy’s eyes went wide at the question, but he could still feel the magical influence Scanlan had over him.

 

“Look, I’m not saying we have that type of rule…”

 

“Gentlemen never kiss and tell.”

 

“But I’m also not saying that I accidently left a flash grenade I was working on under the pillows and it went off….”

 

“No.” Percy could only nod, “During?” another nod, “Before or after?”

 

“Before…” Percy answered, running a hand through his hair. It took a moment to sink in before Scanlan started laughing.

 

“At least now I know what the cot’s for,” Scanlan commented after settling down. Percy’s head was in his hands from shame, “Oh that’s too good Percival, too good.”

 

“Please Scanlan….”

 

“Alright alright, get better Percy.” More laughter bubbled out of the gnome as he left the room. Percy grabbed the pillow next to him and smashed it to his face, screaming into the soft material.

 

Fuck that gnome.

 

~~~~

 

Percy stared at the ceiling of his room, watching the moonlight play with the shadows. He gave an irritated groan as he kept breathing out his mouth, nose far to stuffed to do anything other than have Percy want to rip the damn thing off.

 

“Gods…” Percy mumbled as he lifted an arm over his eyes and let out another groan.

 

“You would have thought I was in here already with the noise you’re making.” Percy tried to yelp, but instead another coughing fit started. He turned after settling down to see a familiar figure undressing in the darkness.

 

“Vax?” Percy cringed at how the congestion made it sound more like, ‘Bax?’.

 

“Hello handsome,” the figure replied as he lifted the covers, “So, how’s confinement been?”

 

The sounds coming out of Percy’s mouth could have been described, partly because of the sickness and partly because Percy was just being dramatic. He continued these noises even as he helped Vax settle into the bed, wrapping an arm around the half-elf’s waist. Vax could only laugh.

 

“I figured as much, that big brain of yours can’t stand being still can it?” Vax could hear the congested rumble in Percy’s chest as he let out a laugh.

 

“I think I may be the closest person to ever die of boredom.” Now it was Vax’s turn to laugh.

 

“Probably would prefer that over getting beaten to death by fucking Grog, or crushed by that fucking Bigby’s hand. Chased me around the fucking keep all day,” Vax explained in a pouty tone, “But, it was worth it.” He softened as he tightened his hug.

 

“Sounds like you had quite a day darling.”

 

“That would be an understatement…” Percy couldn’t help but notice the hint of sadness in his tone.

 

“Vax?”

 

The half-elf looked up, meeting Percy’s gaze. Percy noted the look in Vax’s eyes, disappointment.

 

“Percival, look, I’m sorry…” The human raised an eyebrow.

 

“Why are you…”

 

“You need to take better care of yourself,” Vax scolded softly, “I know how you get when you’re working on something, that big brain of yours goes a hundred miles a minute and you can’t stop,” Vax exhaled before continuing, “your body can’t keep up Percival…”

 

Percy wasn’t entirely sure what to say, wanting to wait to see where this went.

 

“And I should have known that, I should have pulled you away from the workshop for fuck’s sake…”

 

“In all honesty darling, do you really think you could have pried me from the workshop?”

 

“Yes, no, maybe, I could have at least tried!” the last bit came out louder than intended, causing both to flinch.

 

There was silence for quite some time, the only real sound coming from the congestion in Percy’s breathing. The human was rubbing circles over Vax’s hipbone, a nice calming motion.

 

“Vax,” Percy started before coughing a bit, “I…I think a break from the workshop is in order, one where I’m slightly more healthy?” Vax looked back up at the human with an eyebrow raised.

 

“Percival…”

 

“And, after this break, if I’m…if I stay in the workshop for a considerable amount of time, I wouldn’t be terribly angry if some of my tools went missing, provided of course they were returned at a later time?”

 

“But of course,” the humor had returned to Vax’s tone, “Though, if in this hypothetical situation, you were still a stubborn bastard, I can’t promise Grog won’t manage to find them.” Vax could feel a shiver from Percy, causing him to chuckle as the human let out a sigh.

 

“Fair enough I suppose.” Percy’s tone had a hint of defeat, but was mostly playful as he placed a kiss to the top of Vax’s temple. The kiss was quick, as Percy let out another sneeze, “Ahhh, when will it stop? Darling make it stop.”

 

The only response was a laugh as Percy continued to sneeze, wiping his nose with his sleeve.

 

“Aww, Percival, I’m so sorry.” Vax lifted himself up, giving a quick peck to Percy’s cheek.

 

“You sound so apologetic.” Another laugh and another cough before Vax took his hand and placed it over the human’s cheek.

 

“How about this then?” he asked as he took Percy’s lips to his own. The kiss lasted for several moments, before Percy broke it off.

 

“You’re going to get sick.” He barely managed to breathe out. Vax’s hand was still over his cheek, with his thumb rubbing small circles.

 

“Percival, right now I honestly don’t give a fuck.” Another kiss, this one much longer.

 

“Well, it does seem to be helping with,” more sneezing and coughing, “nevermind,” Percy pulled Vax closer to him by the waist, “If you’re going to get sick anyway, might as well…”

 

“Do it with style?”

 

“You took the words,” he tilted Vax’s chin and smirked before kissing his lips, “right out of my mouth.”


	8. Day 23: Being Old Together

“Ring, ring, ring!”

 

Percy lifted his head from the desk, a stray paper managing to stay on his cheek (he swears he could feel a bit of drool gluing them together). His eyes only half opened, Percy felt around his desk for his phone, the source of the noise.

 

He finally managed to find it on the edge of his desk, miraculously still charging. Percy unplugged the device and swiped it on.

 

“Hello?” he asked as he rubbed his eyes with his free hand.

 

“Percy? It’s Keyleth!” The cheery voice rang in Percy’s ear as he adjusted his glasses and removed the paper from his cheek (it was drool).

 

“Hi, um any particular reason you’re calling me this early Keyleth?” Percy started to yawn.

 

“Early….Percy, it’s almost noon,” He nearly choked on the yawn, “Where are you? We were supposed to meet up an hour ago.” she asked.

 

“Well, I…”

 

“You were up all night again weren’t you?” Percy could only sigh, his friend knew him too well.

 

“Ehehehe, possibly…I’ll be right over though, shouldn’t take me too too long.” He reassured her as he got up from his seat and walked over to his closet, digging around for anything remotely clean-looking. He could hear her sigh on the other line.

 

“Well, just get here soon, I need help with Tiberius.” Just then, Percy could hear a muffled groan from the other line.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“He figured out Allura and Kima are a thing.”

 

“Oh dear….”

 

“Yeah….ya know, he’s taking it better than I expected though. There there Tiberius.” The last part was directed away from the phone.

 

“I thought he knew they didn’t exactly try to hide it.” A louder groan this time.

 

“Is it so wrong to hope?” a muffled shout came from the other line.

 

“Tiberius, she’s your professor! No offense, but really…”

 

“We’re close in age!”

It was true, though Allura was around the trio’s age, she was one of the most brilliant professors Emon had ever seen. Percy noted that it was one of the main reasons Tiberius had such a crush on her.

 

Percy used his free hand to rub between his eyes as he heard Keyleth taking back control of the phone.

 

“Just get here soon, he almost walked into a tavern on our way here and I don’t know how much longer I can hold him off. See ya.”

 

“See ya.” With a click they hung up and Percy continued to rifle through his closet, occasionally sniffing at different pieces (he really needed to do laundry).

 

Sometime later, Percy walked out of his apartment complex, double checking to make sure he had his wallet and phone. Percy pulled his jacket collar up further as he walked down the street, taking in all the decorations for Winter’s Crest. Percy couldn’t help but smile at all the blues and whites, even the few reds and greens (a new addition from recent years), then shivered at the cold (He had moved from Whitestone to get away from the cold for Pelor’s sake!)

 

~~~~

The twins shivered in the station, each passing train bringing a new rush of cold air.

 

Vax pulled his scarf up to his face and glared at his sister.

 

“I love being out here in the cold sister, love it to fucking bits….” He hissed through his scarf.

 

“Wah, wah, wah,” Vex mocked her brother, though a small shiver traveled through her as well. There was a rather large bernese mountain dog barked at a nearby crowd, “Down boy.”

 

“I’m going to die of frostbite because you’re too frugal to pay full price for your own girlfriend’s gift!”

 

“Zahra happens to love my ‘thriftiness’ fuck you very much,” Vex tighten her grip on the leash, “Doesn’t she Trinket?” she used her free hand to pet the dog on the head, an affectionate bark was his response.

 

Vax only rolled his eyes as a train finally slowed down and then came to a stop.

 

“Besides, you didn’t have to come with me brother.” She said as the two walked into the train car.

 

“Of course I did, as her future brother-in-law, I consider it my duty….”

 

“You were bored weren’t you?” any steam left in Vax was gone.

 

“Maybe…”

 

“You’re ridiculous brother.” Vex sighed as the train started back up, but there was a hint of a smile in her tone.

 

“Whatever.” Vax groaned as the two took their seats, Trinket by Vex’s leg.

 

“Aw, don’t be that way Vax.” Vex chuckled at her brother, “I think its lovely you’re helping your sister pick out lingerie for her girlfriend.”

 

Vax’s eyes visibly widened as Vex laughed only harder.

 

“Wh…”

 

“What did you think I was going to buy her?”

 

“I don’t know stuff?!”

 

The train stopped once again. Vax only briefly looked away in embarrassment and noted a flash of white.

 

~~~~

 

Percy shivered as he walked into the train car, the metal clanking under his shoes. Looking around, he saw that there was only one available spot, a standing area near a…is that a dog?

 

Slightly hesitant, Percy walked over and grabbed the strap above, still looking at what he assumed to be a dog (it was more like a bear given its size).

 

“I can promise you Trinket’s a darling, he’s harmless.”

 

Percy’s gaze trailed up the animal’s lease to the woman holding it, an amused smile on her face.

 

“Oh, I was just…” he couldn’t help but stutter in embarrassment. The woman only laughed.

 

“Don’t worry about it, everyone’s scared of him the first time around, aren’t they buddy?” the woman petted the dog’s head, who nuzzled under her touch.

 

“It’s more his breath you need to worry about, it’ll kill you then bring you back from the dead.”

 

Percy immediately put his free hand up to his mouth, suppressing the laugh that was trying to come out. The woman turned to a man that Percy only just now noticed. He looked eerily similar to the woman, right down to the long (rather lovely if Percy had to be honest) dark hair.

 

“Vax’ildan you do not speak to your nephew that way!” The woman punched the man in the arm, he flinched and rubbed his arm.

 

“It’s fair to warn him sister,” Ah, so they were related, “Besides, looks like he got a laugh out of it.”  He smirked towards Percy, and the laugh finally came out.

 

“You’re horrible brother.” The woman sneered at the man, who only laughed with Percy.

 

“Next Stop: Cloudtop District Shopping Center.” The PA system rang out, interrupting the current conversation. The doors slid open with a hiss as passengers left, the trio following suit and losing the other in the crowd, not thinking much about it.

 

~~~~

 

“Vex is dead to me Trinket, dead to me….” the dog only whimpered at the cold air as Vax shivered along with him.

 

The two were sitting on a bench outside the shopping center. Vax patted Trinket’s ears as he looked over the sign near the door, _No Pets Allowed._

“You think I would have remembered that sign huh?” the question was mostly for himself, but Trinket’s ears perked up nonetheless, “Now I know why she was so keen on me coming along, ‘You’re bored brother’ my ass.” He hissed through his teeth as he leaned back in the bench.

 

Vax entertained himself for a few moments by looking at his breath in the cold air when he felt his pocket vibrating. He pulled out his phone, noting his sister’s ringtone.

 

“Best brother in the world speaking.”

 

“Oh, then I must’ve dialed the wrong number.” Vax could hear his sister’s smirk on the other line and rolled his eyes.

 

“Ahaha, I’d tell that to Trinket but he’s frozen to the bench, I think he’s still alive.” He heavily exaggerated the last bit, just barely not crossing the line with his sister, whom he heard sighing.

 

“You’re hilarious brother.”

 

“Thank you thank you, I’ve had quite a bit of free time to work on my material.”

 

“Are you about done whining?”

 

“Almost, hold please,” Vax sharply inhaled before screaming into the phone. Trinket’s ears perked up, as did the stares of many people walking in and out of the area, “Now I’m done.”

 

“I hate you so fucking much.”

 

“I love you too~” Vax laughed as he heard the groan from the other line, “You needed something?”

 

“Actually yes, I need you to take Trinket back home.”

 

“You can’t take your dog home becauseeee??”

 

“Hello Vax’ildan.” The smooth, elegant voice that replaced his sister’s took Vax by surprise.

 

“Hello Zahra, are you doing well?”

 

Vax liked Zahra, an awful lot. He thought she made such a cute couple with Vex (a confession he will take to his grave.)

 

“I’m doing quite well thank you, much better after seeing such a lovely face.” Vax rolled his eyes at the muffled giggling he heard.

 

“Would you care to keep the flirting to a minimum? I’m certain it’s cold enough to make my vomit freeze midair and I’d rather not….”

 

“Oh grow up brother,” His sister was back on the line, “Anyway, I ran into Zahra and I’m going to be spending the night with her.”

 

“Oh dear Gods!”

 

“Shut up!”

 

“Alright, fine, I’ll take Trinket home while you go and fu…”

 

“Vax!”

 

“Love you bye~” Vax immediately hung up the phone, not bothering to hold in the laughter.

 

“Oh she makes it too easy sometimes. Alright Trinket, you ready to go?” Vax gently pulled on the dog’s leash, causing him to jump off the bench. Vax felt through his pocket as he put away his phone, feeling for his wallet.

 

“What do you say to a cab ride buddy, my treat.” Vax smiled as he heard Trinket’s bark, but it quickly vanished as he only felt empty air (aside from his phone).

 

“Fucking…I left it on the counter again!” Right then Vax saw his past self walking out the door, wallet left right next to him. Vax quickly felt around his other pocket, giving off a small sigh of relief when he heard a familiar jingle.

 

“At least past me wasn’t dumb enough to leave these behind,” He muttered as he pulled his keys out, giving them a small jingle, “Welp, looks like we’re walking home Trinket, I don’t even have my fucking train pass.” Vax could hear the whimper the dog was giving off as he started storming away from the shopping center.

 

“Maybe not, young sir.”

 

Vax immediately turned around, eyes wide at the man before him. The bright flashy purple coat was such a contrast to Vax’s dark attire, but it somehow managed to highlight the dark skin of the mystery man. The smirk he was giving Vax coupled with the goatee on his chin gave him an, intriguing presence to say the least.

 

“Beg Pardon?”

 

“I said maybe you don’t have to walk in the cold today.” The man flashed Vax a grin.

 

To most people, there might have been this sleazy feeling, but to Vax…he oddly felt safe around the man.

 

“What’s the catch?” Vax did his best to shoot the man a classic grin, though it was slightly strained.

 

“No catch, just wanting to help a handsome stranger out during the Winter Crest. I run a carriage service,” the man pointed to a nearby horse, “However, you will need someone else to ride with, I’m still running a business and it’s far too pricy to carry just one person for free.”

 

“Can’t the dog count? He’s pretty much the size of a ten-year-old, close enough?” Vax pulled Trinket up onto his hind legs for emphasis.

 

“Ah, no,” the man raised an eyebrow and suppressed a chuckle, “The dog can ride with you, but I need another human rider.”

 

“Excuse me!” Another male voice pierced through the conversation. Vax turned to where he was a bit ago to see another flash of white, “You said something about a free ride sir?”

 

~~~~

Percy shivered once more as he entered the mall, letting the warm air run through him.

 

“Reminds me of home.” Percy let out a small sigh as he maneuvered through the crowds to the food court.

 

Though Keyleth had not told him exactly where to meet, that was where they usually migrated to when meeting up, this is what Percy was thinking as he made his way up the escalator.

 

Percy scanned the food court as he reached the top, looking for familiar shades of red. Right when he noticed a lack of the color, his phone started ringing.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Hi~~Percy~~” Keyleth’s voice was slightly more, bubbly compared to this morning, which was something Percy thought was almost impossible to do.

“Keyleth, is everything alright?”

 

“Oh yeah~~~Every~thing’s fine~”

 

“I thought you said you were trying to STOP Tiberius from drinking!?”

 

“Yeah, I did didn’t I? But Tiberius, he made such a good argument!”

 

“Which was?”

 

“Alcohol’s great~!”

 

Percy used his free hand to rub the spot between his eyes.

 

“Well, what do you want me to do? I’m here at Cloudtop.”

 

“Oh, oh yeah you can go on home. We got Pike as our DD!”

 

“Pike?” Percy had never heard the name before. Just then, Percy could hear a small scuffle for the phone, and a new female voice on the other line.

 

“Hello?” she asked.

 

“Hello, is this Pike?”

 

“Oh hi! You must be Percy!” She sounded cheerful, and sober, a combination Percy was very grateful for.

 

“Yes, um, are my friends…”

 

“They’re fine! This is my grandfather’s tavern, and I help get people home,” she explained in a cheerful manner, “You don’t need to worry!”

 

“If you’re sure…”

 

“We’re fine Percy~” Keyleth was back on the phone, “Byebye, we’ll see you tomorrow!”

 

“Alright then…” He heard a click on the other line and sighed once more, placing the phone in his pocket.

 

“Those two I swear,” Percy mumbled as he made his way back downstairs, trying to remember the train schedule to see when the next one would arrive. He almost had it figured out as he opened the door.         

     

“I said maybe you don’t have to walk in the cold today.”

 

Percy turned to see two men talking and stopped for a moment. He was raised to never eavesdrop, but the tone of the man seemed oddly familiar to Percy. He heard the rest of the conversation about needing another rider, and it was then he made his move.

 

“Excuse me! You said something about a free ride sir?” Percy stepped forward and gained the other two’s attention.

 

“Why yes, we need one more for tonight good sir.” The man with the goatee explained. Percy finally noticed the large, familiar dog by the familiar man’s side.

 

“Are you…”

 

“From the train?” the familiar man finished his sentence and Percy could have sworn he saw the other man smirking.

 

“Come come now, we’re wasting the day, and my lovely Sherri’s patience.” The other man grabbed the two by the arm and practically dragged them over to the carriage. Percy and the familiar man did not need any further direction to actually step into the carriage, the large dog resting at their feet, “Onward!” the man called out to the majestic looking black steed, who only neighed in response and started moving.

 

Percy had never felt more confused and more awkward in his life.

 

“So…” he racked his brain for something to say, anything, until a flash of memory hit him, “Where is your sister?”

 

“Oh, she’s off fucking her girlfriend,” The bluntness of the response caught Percy off guard, which did not go unnoticed, “I only speak the truth my good…”

 

“Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III!” Percy practically shouted in response before attempting to compose himself, “But you can call me Percy.”

 

“I don’t know about that,” the man said with a smirk, “I rather like Percival, has a nice ring to it. You can call me Vax.” Percy was almost certain that the warmth in his cheeks was not from his coat.

 

“It sure is cold out,” Percy shivered, trying to change the conversation. Vax only chuckled.

 

“I suppose you’re right.”

 

“It can only be expected from the Winter Crest,” The man upfront took Percy by surprise when he spoke, “Tell me, do you two gentlemen know anything about the legend behind the festival?” He turned to them with a quizzical look in his eye.

 

“Not a thing.” Vax only shrugged at the question.

 

“Wasn’t it…a frost king I believe trying to come into this world,” Percy did his best to recall from memory, “That was millennia ago.” He added.

 

“Correct,” the man congratulated, “Winter Crest is to celebrate the noble heroes who stopped the frost king. Though, it has also picked up another supposed purpose in recent years,” the man stopped for a moment, looking at the two before continuing on, “Here in recent times, the Winter Crest is rumored to help those reincarnated remember their past life.”

 

“Reincarnated?” Vax asked with a raised eyebrow, any boredom left now gone.

 

“Yes, there are many many historians who believe that the mighty heroes of Exandria were given another chance at life by the Gods themselves, as a reward for their deeds,” The man explained as he directed the horse to the right, “Our present is quite something don’t you think, magic and technology living in harmony. Despite the invention of trains, many people still prefer to use teleportation magic, such a fascinating world we live in.”

 

Percy wasn’t entirely sure if the man was speaking to them or himself, but he found himself mesmerized by the man’s speech.

 

“You’re quite right,” Percy commented.

 

“Enough about that though, back to what I was saying….ah yes the heroes of Exandria, their names lost by the cruel mistress of time.” The man chuckled at the last bit.

 

“In fact, the only thing that most historians can agree on is the name of the group as a whole, Vox Machina,” Percy chimed in, earning a look from Vax, “I…I study engineering and history over at the University, Vox Machina have always been a topic of interest for me.” he laughed awkwardly.

 

~~~~

 

Vax could only stare at Percy.

 

“Why such a, narrow interest?” He couldn’t help but be curious, it seemed like such an odd thing to have the grasp it seemed to have over Percy.

 

“Well, I owe a lot to them actually,” Percival (Vax really did like the ring of that name, it was comforting almost) started explaining, “You see, generations ago, even before my grandparents had been conceived, my home in Whitestone had been taken from my family.”

 

Family? Vax’s suspicions of the man coming from nobility were starting to seem accurate.

 

“How so?” Percy only sighed in response.

 

“I’m not sure to be honest, no one in my family is. The whole story was lost quite some time ago.”

 

“Even if it’s just bits and pieces, I think you can still make a story.” Percy chuckled along with Vax at the statement.

 

“I’ll give it my best I suppose. The only thing that keeps showing up in my research is the family name Briarwood, so I assuming that they had something to do with overtaking my family home.” Percy looked the other way, seeming to be in deep thought.

 

“A lot of blood was shed because of this, and I’m amazed the de Rolo’s survived at all. But they did, somehow.”

 

“Are you not sure? What does this Vox Machina have to do with anything?”

 

“That’s the thing!” Percy seemed very excited at the question, “I have no idea.”

 

“Such a wonderful answer.” Vax smirked and Percy could only laugh.

 

“I know I know, but it’s true. The research I’ve conducted shows that the Briarwoods and Vox Machina had no link to one another before Vox Machina overthrew them and took back Whitestone,” Percy had to stop mid-way as he continued to laugh, “I’m sorry, it’s just I’m remembering my father, he would always tell my siblings and I this story over and over, this overdramatic bedtime story based on history.”

 

Vax only looked towards Percy, a look of awe on his face as he took note of the excitement in Percy’s tone (Vax had to admit it was quite adorable).

 

“But anyway, that’s more or less my family’s history with Vox Machina, I have no idea why they did what they did, but I would like to find out.”

 

“Sounds…in all honesty I have no idea what that sounds like.” Vax shook a little as Percy roared with laughter.

 

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m not sure what’s gotten over me,” Percy apologized as he composed himself, “I just find your bluntness rather….refreshing.”

 

“Not the first word people usually go with but okay.” The two stared at one another.

 

Just then, they noticed that they weren’t moving. The two looked around to see that apparently their conversation had taken quite some time, as it was starting to get dark out. The man looked at the two with an odd expression.

 

“As lovely as your chat seemed to be, I’d like to inform you that we have arrived.”

 

The two looked over on Percy’s side and saw a set of buildings next to each other. Vax immediately recognized it as his and his sister’s apartment complex. Right then a thought crossed Vax’s mind.

 

“Hey, how did you…” The words barely left Vax’s mouth before him and Percy were dragged back out of the carriage by the strange man.

 

“Alright, ride’s over! Have a Lovely Winter’s Crest!” Before Vax could even register what was happening he already heard the clip clop of hooves going the other way.

 

~~~~

 

This was a weird day for Percy.

 

And it seemed to just get weirder as he stared at the path where the carriage left him and Vax, only to be brought back to reality by a dog’s barking.

 

“Yes yes boy we’re home,” Vax told the dog as he patted his head, “And I apparently have a fucking stalker, great…” he mumbled that last part under his breath along with something about his sister; it was still a slight blur to Percy.

 

“What is with everyone today?” Percy mumbled to himself as he rubbed his temples, trying to sooth the headache he knew was coming. He could hear a chuckle from behind him and turned to face Vax.

 

“Gotta love the Holiday season, where everyone goes batshit crazy.” Percy laughed at that, he had noticed that he had been laughing quite a bit in Vax’s presence, and was just in a general good mood around him.

 

“Yes I suppose so.” He answered as he looked around, “Hum, I believe I know where I am.” He mumbled to himself.

 

“Can you get home safely?”

 

“Yeah, I should be fine, thank you,” Percy walked up to Vax, “I wanted to thank you for the lovely chat, it felt rather nice to talk to someone who hasn’t heard me go off before.” He laughed awkwardly at the last bit, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

 

“It was interesting to say the least,” Vax chuckle and Percy swears he felt his heart beat a little extra at that.

 

“Yes, well, thank you again.”

 

“Anytime, and best of luck to you Percival.” Vax reached out his free hand and grabbed Percy’s.

 

It hit him like a roaring wave.

 

Percy could see images flash before his head, gone in an instant but all leaving a similar impact. He gasped as he pulled his hand away.

 

Percy looked over at Vax, who was breathing as heavily as Percy was.

 

“Percival…” the name coming out of Vax sounded different, a more familiar tone to it this time.

 

“Vax’ildan…” Percy had no idea where he got the end to Vax’s name, and he had no idea just what that moment meant.

 

All Percy really knew was that he felt like he hadn’t seen the man in front of him in a lifetime, and the ache in his chest that came from this separation.

 

Something in Percy told him the way to ease the ache as he leaned forward, encasing Vax’s lips with his own. He started feeling fuzzy, like his vision was blurring but clearing up at the same time.  

 

“Darling…” He felt roll out of his mouth, so foreign and yet so natural.

 

~~~~

 

Vax tried lifting his head as he slowly came to consciousness, but it felt as if it weighed a ton. He groaned as he lifted his hand (which, thankfully, felt much lighter) and rubbed at his face, hoping to wake himself up. Vax didn’t remember falling asleep, in fact he really didn’t remember much from last night, which caused a panic to rise in him.

 

He was finally able to crack one eye open, staring at the ceiling. Vax used his other hand to feel around what was covering him, a familiar blanket.

 

 _“Okay, I’m in my room. Good start.”_ He thought to himself as he forced his other eye open. He let out a yawn as he stretched, panic starting to fade away. Vax looked at the clock on his nightstand, 6:30 a.m.

 

 _“Fuck that.”_ He sneered as he turned to the other side, only to be greeted by a bundle of white.

 

Vax immediately put a hand over his mouth, trying to repress the scream that was so close to coming out.

 

 _“Whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck?!?”_ He chanted in his head as he got a better look.

 

On the other side of Vax’s bed laid Percy, still asleep and head practically buried into the other pillow. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and his glasses Vax now realized he saw on the nightstand. Percy’s breathing was even as he almost hugged the pillow, his face looking content and peaceful (If Vax wasn’t freaking the fuck out at the moment, he would have admitted it was rather adorable).

 

Vax took the hand covering his mouth and ran it over his hair, racking his brain. He started remembering bits here and there; the trip to Cloudtop, being dumped by his sister, the carriage ride…then it gets fuzzy.

 

_Darling_

 

 _“What the fuck happened?”_ he asked to himself. Sure, he thought the guy sleeping next to him was handsome, but he gave up one night stands a looooong time ago, he promised Vex he would.

 

 _“Oh Gods, Vex is going to kill me if she sees him here…TRINKET!”_ As gently and as panicked as he could at the same time, Vax eased out of the bed making as little noise as possible. Percy let out a small groan, but then clutched the pillow tighter and stilled.

 

Putting on a random pair of pants in the scattered mess on his floor, Vax slowly creeped out of his room and into the living area, memories of what happened last night trickling in. Before he had much time to think about it, he let out a long sigh of relief when he saw Trinket sprawled out on the couch.

 

“Alright, at least now Vex will only have one reason to kill me.” He whispered as he headed for the kitchen, trying to figure out what to do with the man in the other room while preparing Trinket’s breakfast.

 

~~~~

 

Percy dreamed.

 

Perhaps dream wouldn’t be the term Percy would have used, rather Percy felt.

 

Now, usually Percy had dreams like any other human (or humanoid), with even a few realistic-feeling ones.

 

But this….this was a different thing entirely.

 

In this dream? (experience maybe?) Percy felt as though he was a different person entirely.

 

He could feel the cold weight of the Pepperbox (how did he know that name?) in his hand.

 

He could smell the black powder filling the air.

 

He could hear the loud _bang_ as a shot went off.

 

He could see the beast before him fall to the ground, withering in pain and agony.

 

 _What’s going on?_ Was all Percy could think of as this was going on, confusion mixing right with fear.

 

Just then, Percy felt something, warmth on his cheek.

 

“Nice shot handsome, now let’s go!” He heard a somewhat familiar voice. Percy felt his head turn for him to see a face he had only seen hours ago.

 

But, it was different. This man had the same face, same eyes, even the same (lovely) hair as the man he met on the train, but it was still different.

 

The way he was looking at Percy, the look of adoration with a twinkle in the corner of his eye, made Percy’s heart swell.

 

“Right, sorry for the hold-up Darling.” He heard himself say.

 

Darling? He’s never called anyone Darling. Nevertheless, it felt perfectly natural coming out of his mouth, it even had a nice ring to it if Percy was being honest with himself.

 

Percy felt himself starting to walk with the man, and that was when his vision started to blur and he felt himself being pulled away from whatever it was he was seeing.

 

 _No, wait!_ Percy scream seemed to fall on deaf ears as his vision was surrounded in darkness.

 

Percy’s eyes shot open, his heavy breathing muffled by the pillow he was holding. He ran his free hand through his hair, noting the bedhead he was going to have to deal with this morning with a groan.

 

Burying his head deeper into the pillow, Percy let out a small sigh before finally releasing it and lifting himself up to stretch.

 

Lifting his arms above his head, Percy noted that his whole body felt…oddly sore. He rubbed his neck and let out a yawn right as he heard a familiar ringtone.

 

“Keyleth…” he groaned a little as he looked for his phone, finding it in his jeans on the ground (Percy thought that was a little odd, but assumed he must’ve been too tired to care last night).

 

“Hello?” His morning voice was still hoarse, but he managed to get the word out.

 

“Percy? Oh thank the Gods! Where are you?”

 

“I’m…at my apartment.” Percy raised an eyebrow at the odd question.

 

“Um, no you’re not. Tiberius and I are right in front of your door,” Keyleth had worry laced throughout her words.

 

“We’ve been knocking for the past ten minutes, and nothing!” Percy could hear an equally worried Tiberius not too far on the other line.

 

“I don’t know what either of you are…” Right then, Percy heard the door creaking slightly. He turned his head to see Vax’s head poking out of the door.

 

Percy’s eyes immediately darted around the room, realizing that he recognized absolutely nothing about this place.

 

“Hello? Percy are you still there? Is everything alright?” He could barely process the questions, instead fumbling over whatever words were trying to come out.

 

“Um, um, ah, I’m perfectly fine but I need to go, talk later bye!” Percy immediately hung up the phone, breathing becoming more uneven in his panic as he stared at the device.

 

“Was that your girlfriend?” Percy turned back to Vax, who was leaning in the now fully opened doorway, arms crossed. Despite the rising panic, Percy let out a short laugh.

 

“No no no, if anything Keyleth’s like my sister…like I needed another one.” He chuckled while leaning back onto the headboard.

 

“Alright then, good to know, I’d rather not be the mistress personally.” Percy immediately shot back up and looked at Vax.

 

The memories started trickling in.

 

The kiss, Vax leading him into the apartment, more kissing (Oh Pelor, Percy’s more familiar with those lips then he’d care to admit), and…

 

“Oh sweet Pelor…” Percy sighed as he put his head in his hand.

 

“Yeah, that’s one way of putting it,” Vax commented with an awkward laugh and Percy assumed that he remembered at least some of what happened as well, “Well, at least you have some luck, if my sister had been here you’d be so fucking dead, and I would have been too.” He mumbled the last part.

 

“I’d say I have quite a lot of luck.” Percy’s hand immediately went over his mouth as he felt the warmth spread through his cheeks.

 

“Daw, I bet you say that to everyone you fuck.” The tone was playful with a hint of sarcasm, and Percy couldn’t help but notice the red dusting the other man’s cheeks.

 

“Well, not really, seeing as I hadn’t……ever….you know….before…eheheheeh.” Percy could feel this was going from bad to worse.

 

Vax only raised an eyebrow as he walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge, never breaking eye contact with Percy.

 

“Well, I must admit, you seemed like you had more experience.”

Percy could feel his face going bright red right at he heard a barking sound.

 

“I’m coming! Fucking dog,” Vax sighed as he got back up from the bed and turned back to Percy, “Go on and get dressed, my sister catches you here and you’re more fucked then last night.” With that he left Percy to his own devices.

 

~~~~

 

Vax let out a small quiet sigh as he left the room, running a hand through his hair.

 

 _“There, maybe that little act will make him leave quicker.”_ He thought to himself as he patted Trinket on the head.

 

“Good boy, thank you.” He ruffled the dog’s ears before looking back at the room, having heard what he assumed to be Percy getting up and getting dressed.

 

On one hand, Vax hoped Percy would leave and that would be the end of it, another (granted accidental this time) notch in his belt. On the other hand…

 

Vax shook his head, feeling old memories welling back up, memories he’d rather not focus on right now (there was plenty of time for a self-loathing party, thought Vax, but now wasn’t it).

 

“Um,” Vax turned to see Percy, now fully dressed and with glasses back on (Vax must’ve zoned out longer than he thought), “Is everything alright?” he asked with concern.

 

“Yeah, yeah, just fine, looks like you’re ready to go.” Vax wanted to keep up the act he started earlier, but he could feel it faltering.

 

“Right, well then…” Percy mumbled as he went over to the door. He stopped right as he started turning the knob, “Oh, and I found your phone while getting dressed, I just put it on the bed. Wanted to let you know in case you went looking for it.” He called into the living room.

 

“Oh, thank you.”

 

“Don’t mention it.” And with that Vax heard the door open and shut and let out another sigh. He couldn’t shake this feeling in his chest, like his heart was slowly dropping over everything.

 

Vax rose from the couch, petting Trinket once more, and headed back into his room to get his phone.

 

Opening the door, Vax thought that he must have spaced out longer than he thought.

 

“Holy fuck.” He mumbled as he walked into the room and looked over the now-made bed. Right in the middle of the blanket laid his phone, and something else, what seemed to be a folded piece of paper as he grabbed it. Opening it, there was a note inside written in a lovely flowy script.

 

_Vax’ildan_

_I know that we started out on….less than ideal terms. But, perhaps we could make this into something more? I completely understand if you don’t want to, and all you have to do it, well nothing. But, if you want, I left my number, so all you’ll have to do it call. I…I’m not really sure what to add, other than I would like to get to know you better. I think I’m going crazy, but I feel as if there’s something about you, something I can’t put my finger on. But, the choice is yours._

_Sincerely,_

_Percival de Rolo_      

 

Under the signature there was a phone number. Vax reread and reread the note, staring at it for what seemed like forever.

 

~~~~

 

Percy walked out of the apartment complex and onto the sidewalk, a ball of nervousness building up in his stomach.

 

“You know he’s not going to call…” he told himself as he continued walking, grasping the phone in his pocket, which was suddenly vibrating.

 

Shocked, Percy fumbled with the device, almost missing the call right before finally swiping the screen.

 

“Hello?”

 

“You know, the very least you could do is dinner. Usually it’s the other way around, but I have a feeling this isn’t going to be a very typical type of relationship.” Percy’s heart was racing and he could barely hear what Vax was saying on the other line.

 

“Dinner…relationship…”

 

“You, me, the Laughing Lamia, Friday night. Sound good Percival?”

 

“Uh, ah…yes, yes that, that sounds lovely!”

 

“Alright, and another thing, how the fuck did you know my whole name?”

 

“Um, I’m not quite sure, it just, came to me…ehehehe?” Percy could hear a small sigh on the other line, but it sounded more happy than upset or irritated.

 

“Fine, I’ll let you off with that for now creepy, I’ll see you Friday.” Percy still held up the phone even after it hung up, paralyzed with shock.

 

A few moments later, Percy was able to look at the phone properly, making sure to save the foreign number in his contacts. He knew he was going to have an awkward time with Keyleth and Tiberius, but for the love of Pelor Percy couldn’t stop smiling if he tried.

    

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to put my own spin on this prompt, hope you enjoyed~


	9. Day 20: Shopping Together

Despite some of her bosses’ more….odd customers, Sherri would have to admit that she rather enjoyed working at Gilmore’s Glorious Goods; the pay was nice, the hours were flexible, and the man himself was a joy to work for (not that Sherri would outright say it). Of course there were days Sherri wished she could set the place (and some customers) on fire, but the good outweighed the bad.

 

There was another reason why Sherri enjoyed her job; every now and again there were moments, once-in-a-lifetime moments that would make her almost stone-like face crack.

 

Today there were not one, but two moments like that.

 

The day had started off normally for Sherri, she assisted Gilmore in opening up the store before he left for the morning, double checked the inventory, and tended to some regular customers and some passing-by travelers.

 

It was about mid-day, the sun was high in the sky and Sherri was dusting off one of the shelves, Gilmore tending to the counter for the time (he had just returned from a meeting concerning the second store). The bell at the front door rang, announcing a new customer.

 

Sherri took a moment’s break from the dust to see who it was, and mentally winced.

 

“Vax’ildan!” He boss excitedly shouted at the half-elf, leaving the counter to greet him.

 

“Gilmore you glorious bastard!” Vax shouted back, meeting Gilmore half-way and embracing the man in a hug.

 

Sherri did her best to keep her breathing even and did her best to look inconspicuously at the door. Vox Machina…..was one such customer that made Sherri wish she was good with fire magic. Every time the group entered the store, it would usually result in the store receiving a massive pay and Sherri herself receiving a massive headache….

 

She couldn’t help but silently sigh as she realized Vax’ildan was by himself. Vox Machina was much easier to deal with when they were separated. Plus, her boss rather liked Vax, and was always in a much better mood when he left, which typically meant a much better day for Sherri (you could argue Vax was her favorite member of Vox Machina for that reason).

 

“What brings you in today?”

 

“Oh, I think you’re well aware of why I’m here. Could we go somewhere more private?” Vax looked around the practically empty store. Sherri realized that at this point it was just the three of them (the mid-day rush had finished up a mere 20 minutes ago, Sherri thanks the Gods).

 

“Oh my, what would Percival think?” her bosses’ playful tone caused Sherri to roll her eyes.

 

A flash of memory struck her then, that’s right; Vax was dating that other member of Vox Machina, the white haired one that barely talked, Sherri liked him too (anyone who kept talking to a minimum was good in Sherri’s book).

 

“But yes, I believe I have a small idea as to why you’re here. And, as luck would have it, I managed to finish it up last night.” At that Sherri raised an eyebrow; Gilmore had not mentioned any particular project he was working on for Vox Machina (which was usually something he would have talked to her about).

 

Breaking the embrace, Gilmore went back to the counter and past the beaded curtain. After a few minutes, Gilmore returned holding a small box.

 

“I believe this is what you commissioned me for, Vax’ildan?” Gilmore’s tone held a hint of pride as he handed the box to the half-elf.

 

During this exchange, Sherri couldn’t help but notice the expression on Vax’s face changing. Before, there was the confident smirk he always had around Gilmore, but after the box was in his hands, Vax’s expression changed to one of awe and nervousness, entranced by the box.

 

“You might want to check it, to make sure that everything is in order.” Gilmore did his best to try and snap Vax out of the trance, and it seemed to work as the half-elf blinked for a few moments.

 

“Right, right, it’s just…”

 

“Makes it seem more real, doesn’t it?” Gilmore flashed a reassuring grin. Sherri was a little lost by the conversation, but was nonetheless intrigued.

 

“Gods,” Vax sighed before letting out a nervous laugh, “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” he mumbled as he gently lifted the box.

 

During this, Sherri had managed to make her way closer to the pair under the guise of dusting. This had allowed her to get a good glance of what was in the box, forcing a hand over her mouth to keep from gasping.

 

Inside the simple box was arguably one of the most beautiful rings Sherri had ever laid eyes on. Just from a first glance, it appeared to be made of silver and glistened in the dim light of the store. From her position, Sherri could see intricate designs carved into the silver; they looked almost like….cogs possibly? Sherri knew that she was only scratching the surface of the details in the ring, but was still stunned by its beauty.

 

“Its…its gorgeous Gilmore…” Vax barely breathed out as he gently took the ring out of the box and placed it up closer to his eye, closely inspecting everything.

 

“You sound rather pleased, I’m sure Percival will love it!” Sherri felt herself biting her hand to keep from making a sound.

 

Sherri’s mind, on the other hand, was far from still. An engagement ring? Was she looking at an engagement ring?? Sherri’s been working her for years and they’ve never once sold an engagement ring (Enchanted rings sure, but Sherri would hardly call those romantic).

 

“We’ll hope so…he’s never been the overly flashy type.” Vax sighed with a small smile as he put the ring back into the box.

 

“Oh, I made sure to take his taste and your request in mind when designing this, though, if it’s not intrusive of me,” Sherri rolled her eyes again, he hardly cared if it was or not, “I was a bit confused by the cogs, I assumed it was to represent Percival’s tinkering.”

 

Vax could only chuckle and Sherri looked in disbelief (though to be honest, she was secretly thanking Gilmore, because she was equally confused but not as nosy).

 

“You could say it has something to do with that, but there’s a bit more to it,” Vax carefully placed the box into a pouch on his belt, double-checking to make sure it was secure, “Percy once told me that in order for a machine to work, all of the cogs have to be there and working together…What better way to ask someone to spend the rest of their life with you then saying that I’m at my best when you’re here?” Vax looked down at the floor, smiling at his small confession. Before Gilmore had the chance to say anything, Vax looked up, remembrance in his face, “Before I forget, about the enchantment…”

 

“Yes yes, I was able to consult an old friend of mine, a Cleric, and he was able to fix the ring as you requested, now the wearer will be protected against Fiends and against possession by Wraiths.”

 

“I really shouldn’t have even asked, you’re too good to me Gilmore.”

 

They discussed the final price of the ring, with Vax handing Gilmore a fairly large coin purse.

 

“It’s a pleasure, it’s not too often I get such an interesting request to work on, so I thank you for the challenge,” Sherri’s boss chuckled as he placed the purse on the counter, “All I ask of you now is that when you do have the wedding, make sure you enlist the service of Gilmore’s Glorious Goods, I guarantee it’ll be a wedding like no other!”

 

“While I certainly believe you,” Vax chuckled, “You’ll be invited as a proper guest, and a friend.” He placed a hand over Gilmore’s shoulder and for the first time since she’s ever worked there, Sherri thinks she sees genuine shock on his face.

 

“I have to go now, but I’ll be sure to tell you…most of the details. Take care Gilmore!” Vax called over his shoulder as he left the store.

 

After the bell rang and she was almost certain Vax was gone, Sherri made an inhuman noise (fitting, since she was more elf-like) through her hand. She noticed Gilmore chuckling at her, hand over where Vax’s was only moments ago.

 

“You do realize you cannot tell anyone about what you just saw right?”

 

“To be honest, I can only imagine a handful of fates worse than getting fired, but I completely believe in you to come up with something, I’d rather not chance it.”

 

“That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me, I’m so proud.” Sherri couldn’t help but giggle at her boss’s theatrics, “Now back to work, I see more customers.”

 

And the day continued on as normal, eventually after taking care of some items in the back, Sherri was back to the counter, absently staring at the book in front of her to ward off another lull in the day.

 

“Excuse me,” Sherri looked up from her book, happy to have something new to do, to be greeted with a shocking sight.

 

There at the counter was the white-haired member of Vox Machina (Percival? Percy? Honestly she has such a hard time remembering their names, she only remembers Vax because Gilmore talks about him constantly).

 

“Yes, how can I help you?” She tried to put on her best customer face (Like she said, Sherri liked this one, he deserved at least an attempt at the act).

 

“I was wishing to speak with Gilmore, I had put in a request some time ago and he told me it should be ready today.” He answered eloquently (How in the Gods’ names was he a part of a group like Vox Machina, Sherri will never know).

 

Thinking this made Sherri think of something else…a realization of sorts. Sherri tried to keep her expression even, but her surprise managed to slip out slightly.

 

“Gilmore!” Sherri called out to the back of the store, causing her customer to yelp slightly. Sherri immediately covered her mouth with her hand, praying to whatever God was listening that she wasn’t too obvious, “Um, hold on just a second. So sorry about that…”

 

“Long day?” there seemed to be genuine concern in his tone.

 

“You could say that, ahaha.” Sherri immediately went to the back of the room to see her boss, doing his absolute best to burst out in laughter.

 

“I’m assuming Percival’s here?” Sherri only nodded in embarrassment, “Very well, I’ll take care of it, take a seat and thank you.” Gilmore moved her to a chair nearby before taking another box from the nearby counter and headed out through the beaded curtain. Sherri was able to get a very good listen of the conversation from her seat.

 

“Ah Percival! So good to see you!”

 

“Gilmore, the feeling’s mutual. Is everything alright…”

 

“Oh yes yes perfectly fine, it’s been a long day for her is all. Anyway, I believe I know why you’re here?”

 

Sherri could hear Gilmore placing the box on the table. Though she couldn’t see it, the lack of further noise made her think he had the same awe-struck expression Vax had earlier. She then heard a deep breath (assumingly Percival’s) and the box being lifted from the counter and being opened.

 

“Gilmore…it looks like how I left it…”

 

“You gave me the easy job Percival, all you asked me to do was enchant it,” Sherri could hear her boss’s chuckle, “But, as you asked of me, the ring will make the wearer much harder to hit, it will be as if they were encased in shadows as dark as the ring itself,” Gilmore’s description intrigued Sherri, “I must say Percival, this is an amazing work of craftsmanship, the crest you engraved in the middle is beautifully done!”

 

“Thank you, it’s part of my family tradition to engrave the de Rolo family crest on stuff like this, it’s our way of truly putting our loved ones into our family.”

 

“Well, it shows up wonderfully against the dark stone! But…I have to ask, where did you get the material? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

 

“Oh,” It sounded like Percival had been distracted (presumably by the ring), “I had found it on one of our most recent adventures. Did you happen to see shooting lights in the sky some time ago?” Sherri remembered hearing gossip about that for days.

 

“I’m afraid not, but I have heard people mentioning it.”

 

“Well, I’m currently holding what was making those lights.”

 

“No…”

 

“Yes, the lights happened while we were outside making camp. This,” Sherri assumed he was pointing to the ring, “fell nearby and about scared all of us when we heard it land,” There was a chuckle, “When we went to go look, we found this gigantic stone that had managed to burn the ground around it. When we realized it didn’t pose a threat, we left…but I came back and chipped some off when it had cooled down.”

 

“You’ve had this planned for some time?” Her boss sounded intrigued.

 

“Well, I knew I wanted to make this ring myself, but nothing I had on hand seemed to be enough. Vax deserves my best work, and I wasn’t able to do that at the time.” Sherri strained to hear, as he barely whispered.

 

“Then, I saw this, and I immediately thought of Vax,” another chuckle from Percival, “it’s dark enough to be practical, to hide along with him in the shadows. But, it was the way it shined so brilliantly through the darkness, showing off how amazing and how beautiful it was, that made me think of him.” Sherri could hear an odd tone in Percy’s voice as he explained himself, every word powerful and lovely.

 

“My my my, Vax is quite the lucky man isn’t he?”

 

Sherri could hear the embarrassed laugh coming from Percival.

 

“Well, I don’t know about that…but thank you anyway Gilmore.” Sherri could hear Percival dropping another (what she assumed to be large) coin purse onto the counter.

 

“You’ll have to tell me the details afterwards, I insist.”

 

“Fair enough,” Percival laughed, “but for now I must be off, good evening to you!” He called out as he left the store.

 

Sherri heard the familiar bell ding and the beads flinging as Gilmore walked back into the room.

 

“They both bought rings!?” Sherri immediately rose up from her chair.

 

“Only Vax bought a ring, Percival made his own.”

 

“But…how….”

 

“It wasn’t too too difficult to keep it a secret until today thankfully they were both separated or in other groups when they came in here.”

 

“Why today?”

 

“Apparently, today’s their anniversary. Quite the present if I must say so myself.” Gilmore chuckled as he opened a nearby cabinet and pulled out a bottle and two glasses, “Drink?”

 

“Yes please.” Sherri needed one, desperately.          

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was fun writing Sherri lemme tell you (Also, Happy New Year Everyone~!!!)


	10. Day 16: Needing Each Other

“Are you certain there’s nothing I can do for you tonight Master Percival?” Laina looked around the kitchen as she asked this.

 

“I’m positive,” Percy reassured her as he continued chopping the beef in front of him. His button-up had the sleeves rolled and he was borrowing one of Laina’s aprons, “You’ve done more than enough getting me this.” He pointed to the very meat he was chopping up.

 

“Oh, that was no trouble at all, one of the local butchers owed me a favor, and when you told me it was for Master Vax, I could hardly refuse now could I?”

 

Percy could only grin sheepishly as Laina giggled, taking in the flour covering him. He barely seemed to notice as he continued chopping, placing the various pieces on the slab next to him. He only took a break to wash his hands and check on an arrangement of fruits and vegetables he had set on the table. The food was placed on what appeared to be a wooden platter, with various vine designs wrapping around it.

 

“Keyleth’s Druid craft is quite something, these strawberries’ have been out for hours and still look amazing…” he mumbled to himself as he wiped his forehead with his arm, smearing more flour over his face. Laina only sighed, a smile still on her face.

 

“Master Percival, I think I can happily take over here.” Laina commented. Percy looked over to her.

 

“But, I need…”

 

“I believe you have the hard part finished sir,” she couldn’t help but giggle, “I hardly think it’s much work to watch the meat frying while you take a much needed bath. You need to look your best for tonight, and I can see the dirt in your hair from the other side of the room.” She scolded lightly, walking over to where the slab with the beef was. Percy ran and hand through his hair.

 

“I suppose I could do with a bit of freshening up.”

 

“You suppose?” she laughed, “Granted I don’t know Master Vax’s preferences, nonetheless…” Percy only sighed in response.

 

“Thank you Laina, I really appreciate this.”

 

“Think nothing of it; you’ve already given me and the servants tonight and tomorrow off, the least I could do is make sure the Keep doesn’t burn down. Now get, you have a man to impress!” she shooed him out of the kitchen, taking back her apron in the process, and set to work.

 

~~~~

 

Percy leaned back in the tub, the water sloshing with his movements. While he knew he didn’t have much time to relax, he still did his best, breathing in and out. It didn’t seem to help calm the shaking in his body or still the rapid beating of his heart. Percy turned to the now discarded pile of clothes near the tub, staring in particular at the box lying on top.

 

“Pelor help me.” Percy prayed as he sunk further down into the tub, letting out a small groan, “I’m actually doing this, tonight….” He looked back at the box, this time letting out a small smile, “Tonight…”

 

~~~~

 

“And this,” Vax took out a rather large coin purse and handed it to Scanlan, “should buy both you and Grog a night in one of Emon’s finest whorehouses.”

 

Scanlan took the coin purse in his hand, carefully weighing and eyeballing it. Grog was looking over the gnome to Vax, then looked over to the purse.

 

“Hummm, I don’t know about you Grog, but I think we can make ourselves scarce tonight.” Scanlan looked over to the goliath, a small smirk on his face. Grog looked as though he was thinking (that made Vax worried for a variety of reasons).

 

“I dunno, I might need to come back, ya know for an ale break, lady favors make me awfully thirsty.”

 

Vax only sighed as he dug around the pocket in his belt once more, taking out a slightly smaller coin purse, “How’s a whole tankard?”

 

“Deal!” Grog snatched the purse and ran down the hall. Scanlan only gave an approving nod before following. Vax sighed again as he ran a hand through the hair that had managed to escape his ponytail.

 

“Alright, two down, two to go.” He whispered to himself.

 

“I don’t think Keyleth or I will be a problem brother.” Vax yelped in surprised as he turned to see his sister leaning against the wall, an all-knowing smirk on her face (Gods Vax hated that smile when it was towards him). Vax only did his best to give back a smirk.

 

“Whatever do you mean by that?”

 

“Pike’s making a trip for the week, and we’re having a Girl’s Night Out, your treat I’m taking it?” Vax only rolled his eyes as he grabbed the last coin purse on his belt and tossed it over to Vex, who caught it expertly. Her eyes glistened as she looked at the gold pieces inside then she looked back up at Vax, “You gave Scanlan and Grog quite a bit of coin just now. Have you been keeping a stash hidden from me brother?”

 

“Hardly, I’ve been saving up personal funds for this for months.”

 

“You really want everyone out tonight…” she smirked at that.

 

“Like you don’t know what today is?” he smirked back.

 

“Oh I’m fully aware it’s your anniversary, I was going to congratulate you tomorrow,” she walked up to him, putting the coin purse on her belt, “But I suppose now is as good a time as any. Happy Anniversary brother!” she hugged him. Vax could only smile as he hugged her back.

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have two ladies waiting to get plastered with me!” Vex practically shouted as she broke the embrace and walked the other direction, “Remember to use protection!” she yelled back at him.

 

Vax rolled his eyes before laughing. He continued to laugh until he felt the lack of coin purses on his belt, causing him to sigh.

 

“I’m so fucking broke…” he mumbled to himself as he felt around the pouch, smiling a little as he felt a small box, “Worth it though…” his smile only grew as he walked to his room, to prepare for tonight.

 

~~~~

 

Percy had managed to finish his bath and dress himself up right as the meat was finished. After gaining approval (and a hug) from Laina, she left for the night. Percy finished making the final preparations on the table and took a deep breath before walking up the stairs to their room. Hesitating only for a moment (and checking to make sure the box was secure in his jacket), Percy knocked on the door a few quick times.

 

“Yes?” he heard a voice call out. Percy took another deep breath.

 

“Vax, it’s me Percy,” he started, trying to calm the shaking in his hands, “I wanted to apologize for not getting to see you much today, simply too much work in the shop.” He lied through his teeth. Percy had been busy today (cooking, a stop at Gilmore’s, talking to all of the servants, etc.), but nothing to do with the workshop.

 

“Oh, that’s quite alright,” Percy’s heart hurt at the disappointment in Vax’s tone, “I needed to run some errands anyway, so I wouldn’t have been great company.”

 

“May I come in?” He gave the box one last squeeze before taking his hand out of his jacket pocket.

 

“By all means.”

 

Percy raised an eyebrow at the odd answer, but still opened the door and creaked it open slightly. He let out a yelp in surprise, which earned him a chuckle from the half-elf.

 

“Every time Percival, this never fails to get you.”  Vax continued to chuckle, sitting on the bed wearing one of Percy’s shirts. The human started at him for a few moments before laughing himself.

 

“If you keep this up, I’m going to run out of shirts.” Percy walked into the room and towards the bed.

 

“Hardly my fault you keep ripping them.”

 

“Well,” Percy leaned over, placing his hands on either side of Vax, “I can’t help but get impatient, knowing what’s underneath.” Their faces were inches apart now. Vax had leaned back slightly, Percy following suit.

 

“Percival, you get impatient?” The distance was quickly closed, by who was difficult to figure out. Vax ran his hands through Percy’s hair, Percy’s own hands keeping Vax balanced at the waist.

 

Vax’s hands trailed down Percy’s neck and then over his jacket, feeling for the flaps. Percy immediately felt it when Vax stopped right where the box was hiding in his pocket. He grabbed at Vax’s wrist.

 

“Uh, we have all night darling…” He pushed the hand back and pulled away slightly, getting a good look at the heavily breathing Vax.

 

“Odd, usually I’m the tease.” Percy only rolled his eyes before giving a quick kiss to his nose and turning around to walk out the door.

 

Vax noticed that Percy was fiddling with the front of his jacket as he walked out. With a typical Vax grin, he rose from the bed and stealthed behind Percy (as best he could), slowly reaching out for the collar of the jacket.

 

“Nice try Percival,” Vax gripped at the collar, but felt only air.

 

“Darling, you wound me thinking I wouldn’t expect that,” He could practically hear the smirk in Percy’s voice as he appeared behind him, grabbing his wrists, “You’re going to have to wait.” He chuckled as he lowered his head, gently placing his lips to Vax’s neck.

 

“Something tells me you weren’t in the workshop today?” Vax shivered at the touch, but his grin never faltered, “Just what were you up to?”

 

“Oh, you know, a little this and a little that,” Percy released his wrists, his hands trailing down to his waist, “I hardly think our performance of forgetting our anniversary worked on each other.”

 

“I’d have to agree.” Vax used his freed hands to cup Percy’s cheek.      

 

“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” Percy released his grip from Vax’s waist, “I’ll be right back.”

 

“Percyyy,” Vax whined. Percy could only chuckle before going through the door.

 

“I’d like to get at least part of your present. Though not quite what I was planning, I think you’ll like it.” He could only smile as Vax sighed.

 

~~~~

 

Once Percy was out of sight, Vax let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He quickly turned to the bed and rushed towards it, feeling around under the pillow. He pulled out the box before sitting back down on the bed; he opened the box slightly and smiled at what was within.

 

“I need to do this…no more distractions…” Vax whispered to himself as he closed the box and put it right next to him.

 

~~~~

 

Percy rushed to the kitchen, placing pieces of the beef where the fruits and vegetables were. As he walked back to their room, platter in hand, Percy thought to himself. He thought about their little exchange just now, and how it was one of the many many reasons for the box in his jacket right now.

 

“I need to do this…” He told himself as he took his free hand to feel the inside of his jacket.

 

He opened the door once more to see Vax sitting on the bed, seeming to be staring off into space.

 

“Darling?” Percy called out and Vax blinked a few times, showing it worked.

 

“Percival, there’s something I was wanting to talk to you about…” Vax’s voice tried to emanate the same confidence it usually does, but it wavered slightly.

 

“Oh, funny you should mention, so did I…” Percy’s hands were shaking like a leaf as he placed the platter on his desk, “Something,”

 

“I’ve been needing to get off my chest,” They apparently did not hear one another as they continued to speak, “I’ve been wanting to ask you this,”

 

“…for the longest time, but I’ve,”

 

“….been, I don’t know too scared maybe,”

 

“…terrified might be the better word, anyway,”

 

“I want to ask,”

 

“I need to ask,”

 

“Vax’ildan…” Percy turned away from the platter to face Vax; this was something that had to be done face-to-face.

 

“Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III…”

 

“Will you marry me?”

 

Both stopped as the words left their mouths. They stared at each other for quite some time, not quite registering what just happened.

 

Vax was the first to crack, a laugh bubbling out at first with more to follow. He was clutching his sides and tears were flowing from his eyes. It didn’t take much longer for Percy to follow suit, bending over with laughter.

 

“And here I was,” Vax finally breathed out, “so fucking worried that you’d say no.”

 

“Me too!” Percy practically shouted as he made his way to the bed, “Wait, why would I say no?”

 

“I don’t know, why did you think I would?”

 

“I don’t know!” More laughter came out as Percy sat next to Vax, who was still holding the box on his other side.

 

“We’re fucking idiots Percival.” Vax took one of the shirt sleeves to wipe the tears from his eyes, trying and failing to keep from laughing.

 

“We really are…we really are…” Percy managed to calm down enough to get a better look at Vax, a smile on his face.

 

Percy finally took the box out of his jacket, looking at it one last time before looking back at Vax, his smile only growing bigger.

 

Vax, who had finally managed to calm himself down enough to look back at Percy, noticed the box.

 

“That’s not…” Percy only nodded his head, and Vax chuckled before showing his box as well, “Great minds think alike I see.”

 

“That they do…”  Percy leaned in, placing a kiss on Vax’s forehead before starting to open his box.

 

“Wait,” Vax put his hand over Percy’s, “If you don’t mind…”

 

“By all means.” Percy chuckled as he closed his box, still gripping it tightly.

 

Vax took a deep breath as he opened his box, taking one last look at it before turning it and himself to Percy. Percy’s mouth hung open slightly as Vax took the ring out, sliding it over his left ring finger.

 

“Vax, this is…gorgeous…” Was all Percy was able to breathe out as he looked over the gears carved into the silver material. He ran his finger through the carvings until he noticed one set of gears, about three at the bottom of the ring, were raised as opposed to carved in. He raised an eyebrow in curiosity, which Vax took notice.

 

“Run your thumb over them…” Vax explained, knowing exactly what was going on.

 

Percy did exactly that, running his thumb over the raised gears. His eyes went wide again, this time in surprise.

 

“They move?”

 

“Yup,” Vax smiled at his shock, “For when you need to fiddle with something and you’re not near the workshop, or me.” The honest smile turned into a classic Vax grin at the last bit, and Percy had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Instead, Percy took Vax’s hand with his own.

 

“Thank you darling, it’s lovely.”

 

“Well, it reminded me of you, so I certainly hope so.” The grin turned into a small smirk.

 

“But now,” Percy let go of Vax’s hand and started opening his own box, “for you.” He turned the box to Vax.

 

Vax could only stare at the ring for a few minutes before Percy took it out and slid it over his finger as he had done only a few minutes before.

 

The ring was a solid black, small specks of color dotting the surface. At the top of the ring, in silver lining, was a symbol very familiar to Vax.

 

“The de Rolo crest…” he whispered out and Percy nodded.

 

“To truly make you a de Rolo, it’s a family tradition.” Percy explained as he took Vax’s hands into his own, lifting them up to his lips. The two spent a good few minutes in silence.

 

“I’m honestly not sure what to say.” Vax whispered.

 

“I’m the same, I think we got the ‘yes’ out of the way at the very least…”

 

“Would’ve been awfully awkward otherwise,” Right then, Vax pounced onto Percy, the two now empty boxes clanking to the floor. Percy let out another yelp of surprise as his glasses became crooked on his face.

 

“Da…darling?” he asked as Vax removed the glasses, placing them on the table next to the bed.

 

“You still owe me for earlier Percival…” he whispered as he leaned in.

 

“Fair enough I suppose…” a small chuckle left his lips as he closed the distance.

 

~~~~

 

Sunlight started filtering through the curtains, hitting the bed and its occupants. The half-elf’s ears twitched as did his eyes. The human’s eyes twitched as well, causing him to tighten his embrace and bury his face into the back of the half-elf’s neck. They both let out small groans, their eyes not budging.

 

“WHERE’S THE FUCKING FOOD!?” a voice boomed from downstairs. The two groaned even louder, the human finally cracking one eye open.

 

“I think we have company Darling…” Percy muttered, voice hoarse with grogginess.

 

“Maybe if we ignore them they’ll leave.” Vax replied, only partially joking. That earned a chuckle from behind him.

 

“Something tells me that’s not the case,” he placed a kiss at the crook of Vax’s neck, a shiver running through the half-elf, “Besides, you’re going to have to tell your sister eventually.” Percy took his hand and placed it over Vax’s, intertwining their fingers. There’s a small ding noise that makes the two smile.

 

“As are you, dear Percival.” Vax can feel a small groan at the back of his neck as the source nuzzles into it, tickling him.

 

“Don’t remind me, that’s going to be an interesting conversation…” Percy mumbled into his neck, causing Vax to giggle and shiver.

 

“I suppose we should greet everyone, don’t you think?” He asked turning his head to face Percy.

 

“You realize that requires you to wear a shirt right, one of your shirts?” Percy raised a questioning eyebrow, Vax only sighed in response.

 

“Fine, I suppose I will since you asked oh so nicely.”

 

With a small struggle and a fight with grogginess, the two managed to get out of bed and dress themselves in a fairly proper manner (Percy decided to forgo the jacket). With a peck on the lips, the two went downstairs to greet the rest of Vox Machina.

 

Aside from Grog, who was at the moment raiding the cabinets for something to eat, the rest of Vox Machina was sitting at the dining hall; Keyleth’s head was laying on the table and she was giggling from intoxication, Scanlan, Pike, and Vex looked mildly miserable with heads in one or both hands tying to nurse a hangover. The group didn’t notice the duo at the entrance.

 

“Percival.”

 

“Vax.”

 

“If we make it obvious, how long do you think it’ll take them to get it?” Vax whispered as he pointed to his ring.

 

“I’m…honestly not quite sure…” a smile that Vax was all too familiar with spread over Percy’s face.

 

“Want to find out?”

 

“But of course.” There was a small shared laugh between the two.

 

“Good morning sister!” Vax practically yelled into the room. Vex visibly flinched, putting her other hand over her head.

 

“Shut. The. Fuck. Up. Please?” there was a small whine at the please.

 

“Sounds like you all had quite the night.” Percy commented as he walked further into the room, taking a seat next to Keyleth.

 

“It was so great!” Keyleth shouted from the table, pumping a fist into the air and laughing.

 

“Well, I’m happy you had a good time,” Percy started rubbing her back as she continued to giggle, “Oh, and Scanlan?”

 

“Huh?” despite typically being a master of words, Scanlan was barely able to utter that much.

 

“I’m going to be attending a wedding in, what a few weeks Vax?”

 

“I’d agree with that.” He replied as took a seat next to Vex.

 

“And I wanted to ask if you could provide your services?”

 

“Uh, sure I guess…wait, who’s getting married? Allura?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“Kima?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“Did Seeker Asum finally find someone to share his secrets with?” Scanlan’s way with words was slowly coming back to him and at this point Vax had to cover his mouth to hold back laughter.

 

“Your ring’s really pretty Percy,” Keyleth grabbed at his hand, looking at the silver band. She turned her head to face the twins, “So’s your’s Vax.” She slurred before giggling again.

 

“Thank you very kindly Keyleth, they were gifts.” Percy turned to Vax, who at this point had managed to calm down.

 

Just then, the other members of Vox Machina’s (sans a still searching Grog) eyes went wide. Vex and Pike turned to Vax, with Scanlan still staring at Percy.

 

“No…” Scanlan chuckled out.

 

“Yes…” Percy nodded with his response.

 

“You didn’t…”

 

“Oh but I did…”

 

“As did I.” Vax chimed in.

 

“Well, it must’ve been a ‘flashy’ performance to get Vax to say yes.” Percy’s smug grin immediately fell as Vax raised an eyebrow.

 

“Scanlan, don’t you dare…”

 

“What? You’re not going to blow up on me are you Percy?”

 

“Percy, what’s he…”

 

“Nothing, absolutely nothing!” Percy immediately jumped from his seat, startling Keyleth. He rushed to Scanlan, who was getting up himself.

 

“I mean, it would be really inconvenient timing Percy, I have things, and possibly ladies, I’d like to do.”

 

“Wait…Percy did you tell him about the flash bomb?”

 

“He casted fucking Friends on me!”

 

“I could have done so much worse,” Scanlan interjected into the argument, “Like, I could have made him ‘flash’ me.”

 

“Scanlan!” Percy broke into a run, as did Scanlan, into the hall. Vax attempted to join in the chase, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

 

“Don’t think you’re getting away without an explanation brother.” Vex warned him from behind.

 

“I don’t think there’s much explanation, I’m getting married, simple as that.” There was a sheepish chuckle with the explanation.

 

“Haha, very funny brother, not what I meant.” She pulled him back into the chair by his shoulder. Vax could only gulp as he turned to start the conversation he had been dreading.   

      

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've hit double-digits! A big thanks to everyone who's read, bookmarked, and commented on this so far, really appreciate it~!! Hope you enjoyed~!!


	11. Day 14: Geeking Out Over Something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Man did this get meta in some places.......But hey, its a bit of the LP AU!

“Percival, I think it’s from the lack of sleep, but care to remind me why the fuck we’re still up at 3 a.m?” Vax groaned out as he leaned back, laying down on their living room floor with his hands on his face. Papers were scattered all over the floor and the two were in their sleepwear, Vax in his sweater, yoga pants, and glasses, and Percy in his plaid pajama pants and hoodie. 

 

A hunched over Percy looked over to his boyfriend (No, wait…. _ fiance….) _ with an equally tired look, his glasses dangling at the end of his nose, “You have both Tiberius and our own indecisiveness to thank for that Darling.” He answered with a small groan of his own as he turned back to the book sitting in his lap, The Player’s Handbook.

 

“Fuck Tiberius…”

 

“Do you think coffee at this time is a bad idea?” Percy mumbled absentmindedly, still looking over the book.

 

“Yes, yes it is…..I’ll go make it,” In almost an instant Vax was on his feet with a sigh, heading into the kitchen, “The usual?” 

 

“Yes please.” Percy called out before gathering the papers nearby, his own notes, “Of course we pick the night before Tiberius wants characters and backstory to realize that we have  _ no  _ characters…..or backstory!” He bit his lip as he shifted through the papers.

 

“In our defense,” Vax leaned against the entryway, “We’ve been recording, there’ve been conventions, the Charity Stream….” Vax let out a small laugh at the last part, and Percy noticed he was looking down at his hand, “We’re planning a wedding….” He looked back up to Percy, a small grin on his face.

 

“It's been an…...eventful couple of months hasn’t it?” Percy could feel himself smirking for the first time since they had sat down that night to plan. 

 

There was a beeping noise from the kitchen that made Vax’s ears perk up (Percy always loved the way his ears would have just a hint of a point to them, it was the cutest). Vax stretched out, cracking noises coming from various parts of his body as he let out a yawn and walked back into the kitchen. Percy let out a yawn of his own before leaning back onto the floor, similar to what Vax had done moments before. 

 

“No sleeping on me yet handsome,” Vax lightly scolded him as he came out of the kitchen, two mugs in his hand. He placed one of the mugs next to Percy’s head, “Black as your heart love, with a pinch of cream to show your sweet side.” He explained as he sat back down. 

 

“You used my Steampunk mug,” Percy started sitting up again, gripping the handle as he turned to Vax, “Thank you…” he mumbled out sleepily before taking a sip, letting out a small hum in contentment. 

 

Vax let out a small chuckle, “You’re welcome,” he looked around at the mess on the floor, sighing into his own mug, “God we’re fucked. I don’t even know what fucking class I want to be…..”

 

“Why not be a Rogue? Isn’t that your usual?” 

 

“That’s the thing, I’m  _ always  _ a Rogue when we do Dragon Age or shit like that,” Vax shifted through the papers, “I kinda want to do something different, I don’t know it seemed like a good idea at the time….” He mumbled into his mug (if he wasn’t so tired, he would have thought the gesture was adorable).

 

“Alright…..lemme see if I can help...” Percy felt his words slurring.

 

“Percy, love, we’ve been at this since midnight, I don’t think-”

 

“Maybe that was our mistake,” Percy took another sip, “Perhaps we’ve been over-complicating things? We’ve been known to do that, so let’s just…..one step at a time, what do you want to do in the game?” He asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

 

“Well,” Vax took the Player’s Handbook nearby, balancing it on his lap, “I would like to cast spells, that seems really fucking cool.”

 

“Alright, so that’s…..fuck that’s a lot of things, divine magic or just….normal spells?”

 

“Divine magic?”

 

“Religion-based stuff.”

 

“Nope!”

 

“Alright then, that leaves us with Wizard, Warlock, Sorcerer, Bard, possibly Ranger or Monk?”

 

“Ranger looked similar to Rogue, and Monk I’m just, eh,” Vax shrugged his shoulders, “Aren’t you doing a Warlock?”

 

“I would like to, especially after reading them, turns out 5e does a lot….” Percy let another yawn escape.

  
“Well, I don’t want to steal your thing so that’s out,” Vax flipped through the book, “And I don’t like the thing with Wizards, they seem so fucking nerdy.”

 

“Says the man wearing big frames, that look adorable on him might I add.” Percy giggled at the pout Vax was giving him, tongue out in spite.

 

“Shut the fuck up.”

 

“I love you too,” he leaned in, quicking pecking Vax’s lips before going back, “Alright, that leaves Sorcerer and Bard.”

 

“This might be because I’m about to pass out,” Vax commented, “But I’m reading the Sorcerer page and I don’t understand shit….”

 

“That’s normal, Spellcasters in general are difficult for a first-time character,” Percy explained, “So Bard then?”

 

“What exactly do they do?”

 

“They…..sing…You cast spells through song, or dance, or acting I think? They’re more of a support role to be honest, but can be rather deadly.”

 

“I get to sing?”

 

“If you want? I don’t think Tiberius wou-”

 

“Holy shit Percy I get to sing!” 

 

Percy let out a loud laugh at that, almost to the point of snorting, “Well, I guess Bard it is then, now for the race.”

 

“Shit, I almost thought we were done.”

 

Another small chuckle, “Not much more left Darling, I suggest taking the Entertainer background for a Bard, so that’s done. Let’s see,” he took the book from Vax, flipping to the Bard section, “You cast with your Charisma, like Warlocks funnily enough, so you should be a race that gives a bonus to that.”

 

“Any suggestions?”

 

“I would recommend,” Percy continued to flip through the book for a few more minutes, “Either a Half-Elf or a Tiefling, they give you a plus two in Charisma.”

 

“Tiefling?” 

 

“Think demon, horns, hooves, tails, odd skin, the whole nine yards.”

 

“Jesus…..” Vax looked at his mug before glaring at Percy, “You’re a fucking Tiefling aren’t you?” 

 

“Maybeeee~” Percy felt the smug grin on his face and was amazed Vax hadn’t punched him at this point.

 

“Oh my God, you’re ridiculous, and you wonder why Scanlan thinks you’re going to get arrested for murder?” Despite sounding exasperated, Percy could see the grin on Vax’s face.

 

“I want it to go on record,” he took Vax’s free hand, “That you said  _ yes _ when this ridiculous possible murderer asked you to marry him.” He kissed the hand, right where the ring rested. He lifted his head back up, staring Vax in the eyes. A small smile was forming on the other man’s lips, and the look of adoration never left him.

 

“I did,” Vax rubbed his hand with his thumb, tracing small circles, “I did and I plan on living a blissful, married life with this man, basement full of dead bodies be damned.”

 

Not even a heartbeat later they were laying on the floor again, lips on lips and mugs barely keeping balance. One of Percy’s hands trailed up Vax’s neck to his hair, groping to take out that fucing hair tie, and the other was already under Vax’s sweater, sandwiched between muscle and soft fabric.

 

“Darling,” Percy breathed out the few moments they parted for air, finally managing to remove the hair tie and fling it across the room “At the risk of making this nerdier than it already is-”

 

“Percival, we started making out while talking DnD, we literally are one pocket protector short from full nerd.”

 

“You know, I used to own one of those back in High School...” Percy mumbled, his lips ghosting over Vax’s jawline.

 

“Of fucking course you,” a groan as Percy nibbled at his neck, “did…”

 

“You love it.” a yelp of surprise as Percy felt pressure on his ass.

 

“Just a bit, I’m only marrying you in a few months, nothing too too serious.” Their lips were back on one another.

  
“You still haven’t picked a race yet Darling.” Percy mumbled after a few moments, pressing their foreheads together as they tried to regain breath.

 

“Love, you really want to do this noAHH?” Percy nearly bit the tip of Vax’s ear, his weak spot, “All right all right, I’ll do a Tiefling, match with yoahhhhh~!” He moaned out, feeling Percy on his ear again, “Percyyyyy, you’re such a fucking tease….”

 

A dark chuckle rumbled in Vax’s ear, “It's only teasing Darling,” he felt light kisses along his jawline, “If you get nothing out of it~”

 

~~~

 

There were times Vax’ildan loved his body clock, like the times it only made him oversleep five minutes past his usual wake up time, saving him from the wrath of his sister.

 

Then there were times like right now, when Vax really wanted to sleep but his body refused, telling him it was time to get up.

 

With a groan Vax only tightened his grip on his pillow with one arm, the other reaching out for a source of heat, only to find empty air. This forced Vax to crack open an eye with another groan, seeing now the other side of the bed empty, but the nearby desk was occupied.

 

Opening up both eyes, Vax could see Percy at their work desk, busily typing away (a contrast to the occasional clicking sound Vax was accustomed to whenever Percy edited a video). Percy appeared to not be wearing any clothes, or was at least shirtless.

 

“Percyyyy…” Vax whined weakly, the sleep still making his eyelids weigh a ton. 

 

It seemed to work however, as Percy ceased his typing and looked over to the bed, a sheepish smile on his face, “Good morning Darling,” Percy rose from his chair (and Vax discovered to his disappointment that he was wearing pants) and walked to the bed, crawling into the sheets, “I was hoping to be done before you woke up, terribly sorry about that.” A quick peck to the lips and Vax closed his eyes again.

 

“What were you working on?” Vax mumbled into his pillow, free hand now grabbing Percy by the waist, causing the other man to giggle.

 

“Oh, I was working on Honor’s backstory.”

 

“Honor?”

 

“Got ahead of myself, my Warlock,” Percy slid closer to Vax, wrapping his arm around the other man’s waist as well, “Last night, after you went to sleep, I was struck with inspiration!”   
  


“That’s wonderful love.” Vax mumbled again as he gave a chaste kiss to Percy’s cheek.

 

“I was thinking….do you want our Tieflings to be lovers?” 

 

Vax raised an eyebrow in confusion before his eyes widened in remembrance, “Oh yeah, I picked a Tiefling didn’t I? Sure, that sounds good.”

 

“Is it okay if Honor’s family want to kill you?”

 

At that Vax started feeling awake, “What the fuck!?! Why?”

 

“Because,” Percy gave another smug grin, “Their son was suppose to marry into a family with political influence,”

 

“You’re a massive nerd I hope you realize this.”

 

“However,” Percy ignored him, “He was seduced one night by a handsome traveling Bard.”

 

“Oh, seduction? I like where this is going Percival.”

 

“It was only suppose to be a one-night stand, but it grew into so much more. The family wanted the Bard dead for sleeping with a supposedly ‘engaged’ man, but Honor rescued him and they ran, ran as far away as they could to get away.”

 

“All right, I like it,” Vax raised up, propping himself up on the pillows behind him, “But why Honor?”

 

“It’s his Virtue name, Tieflings can have one if they so choose.”

 

Vax hummed in contemplation, looking up at the ceiling, “Let’s see, if I managed to seduce such a powerful family’s son, I sound rather….charming don’t you think love?” Percy could only roll his eyes at both the comment and the following wink.

 

“Honor and Charm? I think it could work,” Percy snuggled deeper into his pillow, “We need to send the stuff to Tiberius.”

 

“I’ll do that later today,” Vax laid back down, smiling at Percy, “I’d much rather go back to sleep…”

 

“I’m feeling the same.” Another kiss to the lips.                  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear this fic is alive! Inspiration is just in short supply, shoot even this chapter was a sorta accident.....Anyway, I hope you enjoyed~! Also, you get to meet a few of my own DnD characters~


	12. Day 22: Competing

When they had started playing Until Dawn for the stream, Percy and Vax had only gone in thinking they’d spend an hour or so and call it a night.  
  
What they hadn’t expected was to be pushing six hours into this horror movie parody and actually getting attached to the characters.  
  
“If Matt dies we riot.” Percy laughed at what the chat had typed up. Vax was staring intently at the screen, the light reflecting off both his and Percy’s glasses (he had decided to remove the contacts during the first break because fuck having them in this late at night) it seemed as if he wasn’t even aware that Percy was hugging his waist, head placed on top of his own. Vax had managed to get both Emily and Matt to the Fire Tower, handed him the flare gun (as recommended by the totem and the chat), and they were now currently on the falling tower. Emily was barely hanging on and Matt was looking over her.  
  
“Matt, is now really the fucking time to talk about her and Mike!??” Vax shouted at the TV, seeing the current dialogue option.  
  
“Well, you can technically choose to not make it the right time.” Percy mumbled, kissing the top of Vax’s head.  
  
“I know, but people are dying Percival!”  
  
“Technically, only one person’s died….and that was my fault.” Percy lamented over Jessica’s death, only made worse by the chat’s ‘Percy’s bad end curse continues!’ Vax only groaned.  
  
“I really don’t want Matt to die....Emily can fuck off but not Matt.”  
  
“We want to subvert the horror movie trope!” Percy shouted. Vax only sighed as he picked the other option to show concern for Emily. Then came the choice; Save Emily or Jump to Safety.  
  
“Chat says Jump.” Percy nodded to the screen.  
  
“Yeah, chat told you to take the safe route and Jessica lost her fucking tongue!” Vax shouted as he picked Save Emily. The two winced as the tower shook more.  
  
“Chat still says Jump.”  
  
“Nope!” Vax picked Save Emily once more.  
  
“You don’t even like Emily! You purposefully disagreed with her about going to the tower!”  
  
“Well yeah but I’m not going to let her die if I can help it Percival! I refuse to let someone else die, refuse!”  
  
“Oh God the chat’s going crazy.”  
  
“Fight me!” he shouted as the butterfly effect kicked in. The two flinched at Emily’s screams, Vax having a very disappointed expression, “Fuck!”

“Welp, that makes thre….oh no wait Matt’s still alive!” Percy pointed out, a new hope in both of their eyes.

“Ahahahah! Yes, fuck you game I knew I could-OH FUCKING SHIT!” Percy winced at both Vax’s shouting and Matt’s scream, the character being dragged on the ground and pleading for his life.

“The fuck is that?”

“Not fucking human that’s what it is!” Vax whined into the controller, “We’ve lost a-fucking-nother one God kill me now.” He ran a hand over his face as Matt continued to get dragged through the mine. Percy wrapped his arms around Vax’s waist again, his grip tight in support.

“Oh God, wait...what’s that?” Percy asked, Vax took the hand off his face and stared at the screen as a flashback went off.

“Wait, the flare gun THE FLARE GUN WE GAVE HIM THE FUCKING FLARE GUN!”

“QTE Darling, QTE!” Percy warned.

Vax’s hands were on the controller again, aligning everything to what he hoped was just right.

“Did I get it?” He asked weakly.

“I didn't see any-YOU GOT IT!”

“SHOOT THE MOTHERFUCKER MATT!”

They cheered as a flash darted across the screen, Matt finally stilled and looked around the mine. That was as far as he got before Vax pressed R1, pausing the game.

“I think we need a break Darling.” Percy chuckled out, kissing the top of Vax’s head.

“Yeah,” Vax barely managed out, “Yeah we do...because I’m an inch away from a heart attack. Fuck this game.”

“You want to stop?”

“No I love this game…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank the lovely curls101 for the inspiration and the base for this chapter~! Go check out their fic, "Baseball bats save lives, kids"


	13. Day 25: Trying to Seduce One Another

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I want to say that I am terribly sorry for the lack of updates, and the quality of these next few chapters. Unfortunately, 30 Day OTP Challenge is going to be on a sorta hiatus for the time being, due to lack of inspiration and due to wanting to spend more time on other projects. Also, I'd like to apologize for reusing old one-shots for some of the prompts. Like I mentioned above, due to time I don't want to spend time coming up with brand new ideas when I have things that easily fill the prompt. Thank you for your patience and thank you so much for all of your support, it means the world to me.

Vax wasn’t entirely sure when he realized that something was off, but the fact that he was naked and his arms were tied to the bedpost were definitely a big fucking clue.  

He struggled against his restraints, trying to figure out exactly what was holding him.

“It’s just my ascot, but I would ease up if I were you,” he heard the thud of a book closing, raising his head to see the source of the noise. Sitting at the table in the corner, book now on said table, was Percy, a smirk on his face, “Wouldn’t want to rip it now would we Darling?”

Seeing the familiar white, Vax gave his own signature smirk, “Good to know love, now care to tell me why I’m tied up?”

The smirk vanished from Percy’s face, replaced instead with a hard line as he raised from his seat, showing Vax that while he was wearing a shirt, it was unbuttoned, “It's nice to see that you have sudden amnesia,” He walked over to the bed, sitting on Vax’s right side, “I personally imagine that it would be rather difficult to forget pulling down your husband’s pants in front of our friends, Allura, Kima, and my sister included.”

“Oh my Gods Percival I told you it was an accident,” despite the defensive tone, Vax couldn’t even try to hide the grin on his face, “Love you get awfully stuffy during your speeches…...I just….wanted to lighten the mood?”

“That seems terribly uncharacteristic of you Darling.” Percy raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing him.

“Alright, and it’s always hilarious seeing the calm, composed Percival de Rolo red as a tomato,” The grin turned to a wicked smile, “I would be lying if I said it wasn’t satisfying.”

The line on Percy’s mouth turned to a look Vax was all too familiar with, a look that made his own wicked smile turn to a worried expression, _“Are you sure you should be saying such things in your position Darling?”_

Yep, there it was, the fucking Elvish.

Despite the shiver running through him, Vax only shrugged his shoulders, _“To be quite honest love, it seems like I’m in the best possible position, though this rope is a bit uncomfortable…”_

 _“You poor thing,”_ the mock-concern was evident in Percy’s tone as he pouted. He moved himself to the end of the bed, carefully watching over Vax with a hungry look in his eyes, _“Whatever will you do?”_

He leaned in, nipping at Vax’s neck, _“What do you have planned for me Percival~?”_ he purred out as he trailed down his neck.

 _“Wouldn’t you like to know.”_ Percy’s lips trailed to his chest, covering Vax’s nipple with with his mouth, sucking and licking at the now-pebbling skin. A groan escaped Vax’s lips as he felt tongue flicking against him. Percy pulled away, chuckling at the twitch of Vax’s cock, _“Rather eager aren’t we Darling~?”_

 _“Percy, I swear to the Gods if you don’t-ah fuck!”_ the threat died on Vax’s lips as Percy gave him a long, lazy stroke.

 _“Terribly sorry dearest, what was that?”_ another lazy stroke.

Only a moan was his response as Vax arched his back away from the mattress, pulling against his restraint. Percy’s smile only grew as he gave one last stroke, rubbing his thumb against the head.

He continued his work on Vax’s chest, peppering his skin with kisses. Vax could only groan at the touch, burying the side of his face into the pillow to muffle them. Percy’s lips trailed downwards, ending at the base of his cock, _“Darling Darling, must you hold back?”_

 _“Fuck you Percival.”_ was the soft reply.

He could only snort, _“Oh, you wish,”_ he took his thumb once more against the head, spreading the precum. He let out this long, dramatic sigh, _“I honestly don’t see any need in continuing, if you’re not going to get into it~”_ he could only grin at the whine that followed, _“I’m sorry what?”_ he took a free hand to his ear.

 _“Percyyyyy….”_ the whine was still covered by the pillow.

_“I simply can’t hear today, I’m going to have to stop-”_

_“Don’t you fucking dare Percival!”_ no pillow could dare keep that shout back, _“Finish what you-_ ah! _-started!”_ even the elegance of Elvish couldn’t hide the rough voice coated with desperation and lust.

Percy could only tsk at him before giving him another stroke, _“Well then, since you asked so_ ** _nicely_ **_,”_ playful smirk undermined the sarcasm. He took away his gloved hand, licking at the bitterness before pulling the thing and its companion off with his teeth.

He finally pushed himself to the foot of the bed, hands on both sides of Vax’s hips. With one last small smile, he leaned down, licking a stripe up his cock. Percy continued his teasing, relishing in the shameless moans Vax was letting out, until he felt the shaking of Vax’s body to be too much. He was almost done, Percy figured he’d had enough.

And with that thought, his lips encased the head, and he started to suck. He barely lighten his grip on Vax’s hips, only enough for the other man to buck and rock slightly.

_“Percy, Percy love I’m not-”_

He pulled away just long enough to give him a smirk, _“Come for me, I think you’ve earned it Darling.”_ It was enough for Vax, as he came with a moan of Percy’s name. With a pop and a pant, Percy looked over his work, taking special delight in the way Vax’s pupils were blown with pleasure.

It was moments before Vax’s breath returned to somewhat normal as he looked Percy in the eye, the switch to Common slightly awkward, “If that’s your punishment…..fuck me Percy…” more panting.

"Again Darling, you wish~" 


	14. Day 7: A Death of Someone Close

Vax had received another vision from her that night, as he typically did, about another threat needing to be dealt with.

He awoke gently, having gotten used to his Queen’s messages long ago. He couldn’t help but smile at the white that greeted him, realizing that Percy was able to sleep for once.

As carefully as possible, Vax managed to wiggle out of his lover’s grasp and plop onto the floor, trying to quickly find his clothing and armor.

“She called you again didn’t she?” he heard a voice as he pulled his tunic over him. Vax turned to see Percy, elbows propping him up on the bed.

He let out a sigh, “She did,” he walked back over to the bed, encasing Percy’s lips with his own, “I won’t take long, I swear.” he whispered pulling back.

“Last time you said that, you were gone for three months,” though his tone was scolding, Vax could still feel the smile forming around Percy’s lips, “Just be careful okay?”

“When am I never careful?” He could barely get out the question before feeling a light slap against his arm.

“Come back, and in one piece okay?”

With a roll of his eyes, Vax finished putting on the rest of his armor, double checking that his daggers were accounted for on his belt. He gave Percy a final, long kiss on the lips before walking over to the balcony. Vax could feel the magic flow through him as his form changed, and where there once was a half-elf, there was now a raven perched on the banister, staring at Percy. He tilted his head before the human gave him a wave, a small sad smile still on his lips. In a flash of black feathers, Vax’ildan flew off into the night.

~~~

It had, unfortunately, taken Vax six months to infiltrate and destroy a cult of Orcus hiding in the depths of Westrun. He decided to make a quick stop to see his sister and Keyleth since he was in the area, and then return to Whitestone, to Percy he thought as he finally saw the Air Ashari’s site underneath him, a pair of familiar-looking half-elves looking in the sky. Even in raven form, there was a mischievous glint in his eye as he carefully perched himself on a tree branch behind them.

“I hardly expected to have such a grand welcome,” he morphed back on the branch, laughing as the two women yelped and turned around to face him, Keyleth with an amused expression and Vex’ahlia with one of irritation, as to be expected, “How are my two favorite wives?” he asked, hopping down from the tree and next to his sister, arms outstretched.

“That was a dick move brother.” The scolding tone was undermined by the smile she gave him, holding out her own arms and embracing him. The twins stayed like that for only a moment before Vax picked her up, spinning her around much to her protest.

“It’s good to see you Vax.” Keyleth chuckled out as Vax finally put his sister down.

“Kiki!” Another hug, “I’ve missed you both.”

“And we you brother,” Vex slinked an arm around his, “You sure you can only spend one night?” there’s just a hint of a whine in her voice as the trio made their way to the main grounds.

“Unfortunately yes,” he kisses her temple, “As much as I would love to stay, I have a husband waiting for me,” At that he felt Vex’ahlia’s arm tense up, “Something wrong sister?” he patted her arm, concern on her face.

“It’s just,” it was Keyleth that spoke, concern on her face as well, “Have you heard from Percy here recently?”

“No,” the answer was whispered out, mostly in shame, “I almost never hear from him when I go out for her, I’m afraid of putting him in danger,” the shameful look turned to one of worry, “Surely he’s contacted you? So close to your coronation?”

She shook her head, “No, and…” she bit her lip.

“We’ve been hearing rumors,” Vex’ahlia’s grip on his arm tightened, “about, things appearing near Whitestone.”

“Things?” he stopped their stride, his hands shaking slightly.

“We don’t know exactly what they are,” Keyleth put a hand over his shoulder, “But, everytime I’ve tried contacting Percy, there’s been nothing.”

“And you haven’t tried teleporting via tree?”

She looked away, taking in a deep breath, “I….I did…”

“There was nothing there…” Vex finished for her, “Brother, I-”

She was interrupted by the ruffle of Vax’s feathers, him practically running back the way he came, “I have to go.”

“Brother!”

“Vax!”

“I **have** to go!” he shouted, turning to face them, his breath coming out shaky, “The very idea of Percy being in danger….” he stopped himself, opting instead to turn back.

“But how are you-”

“I’ve got one more use of the Raven thing today,” he answered them. With another deep breath, he turned to face his sister and Keyleth, “I’ll be back.”

And with that, all the two women saw was a flurry of black feathers.

~~~

Vax had to eventually make camp about halfway there, fatigue finally settling in. He was barely able to get the rest required, worry wracking through his brain.

It was nothing, he thought to himself, Percy probably was just…...working on a project, he could always get lost in his workshop, not come out for days…….Vax should’ve been there to make sure he was eating and drinking right….

He shook the guilt from his mind…..but why was the Sun Tree not working? It had before, time and time again….

Vax was certain the worrying finally pushed his body to the limits, as he felt his eyes finally close on their own.

He was tormented by nightmares. Visions of steam and white. The last image he saw was that of his Queen, giving him a look he had never seen before.

She almost looked…..

_Remorseful….._

~~~

The entrance to Whitestone was awfully quiet as Vax shifted back into his normal form, the feathers decorating his armor ruffling up.

Well….it was mostly quiet.

It was faint, but Vax was able to hear a ticking sound, and quickly ducked into the shadows. Not even a moment later, he felt as if he were twenty-seven all over again, staring down a zombie orc.

This time however, there was metal and steam rather than flesh and bone. The ticking noise Vax realized was coming from the gears that created the giant construct.

What the fuck was going on? He thought to himself as he dashed from shadow to shadow. He would’ve thought it was just a new line of defense Percy had invented while he was away, inspired by Fassbender. But….something was off, there was no one out in the streets save for about three of these contraptions, despite it being in the middle of the day.

And this deep, dark pit Vax felt in his stomach....it felt like the Briarwoods all over again.

~~~

It had taken some time, darting across the scarce shadows, but Vax finally made it to the entrance of the castle, a place he had called home only six months ago.

Had it really been so long? He asked himself as he prepared to open the door. Something beat him to it, however, as it started to open on its own. Vax immediately jumped back, dagger in hand, until he saw who it was.

“Cassandra…” the hint of joy in his voice vanished as he got a better look.

Yes, it had Cassandra’s face, some semblance of her hair, and even wore an outfit Vax felt his in-law would approve of. But the way its skin shined in the daylight and the familiar ticking noise coming from it made Vax realize this was not Cassandra de Rolo.

“Welcome,” it greeted him in a mechanical, monotone voice, “Brother has been expecting you, follow me please.” it turned without waiting for his response, walking further into the castle.

Vax wasn’t sure what possessed him to think it was a good idea, but he followed the contraption, his stomach sinking with every creak its joints made.

“I-” Vax could barely talk as he looked around the castle, his home, looking familiar in a way it should not at all, picture frames broken across the floor, various pieces of cloth joining them. But there was something missing that made Vax worry the most…

Where were the bodies?

The contraption stopped in front of a grand set of doors Vax recognized as the dining hall. It turned to Vax, its expression still cold and unchanging, “Brother will see you now, good day Vax’ildan.” it gave a quick bow before walking off in a direction Vax didn’t bother to note, instead staring at the handle of the doors.

His whole body was shaking as he reached out for the handle, carefully pushing against the door.

“Darling Darling~!” an eerie voice rang out before Vax could even register what was happening, “You’re finally home!”

He wasn’t sure if it was shock that was making him want to fall or the only thing keeping him upright as he finally got a good look. The dining hall was a similar wreck, silverware and rotting food scattered about. But that wasn’t what Vax was paying attention to, no that was the lone figure sitting at the head of the long table.

Percy, or at least what looked like Percy. The figure rose from his seat, a wicked smile on the flesh half his face, the other covered in what Vax noticed on the face of the Cassandra-look-alike. Vax heard a familiar ticking sound and a similar sheen covering Percy’s right hand.

“Percy…” Vax could feel his lungs tightening, from the steam seeming to leak out of the other man or from his own body’s reaction Vax couldn’t tell, “What….what-”

“What happened?” The smile never faded as he walked closer to Vax, “Darling, Whitestone had a revolution that’s what happened!” the way his laugh sounded so innocent froze Vax’s blood.

“Percival...your arm..”

“Oh this?” he pointed to the arm in question, “I had a small accident in the workshop, needed a replacement, couldn’t begin to tell you how, excruciatingly painful it was!” another laugh, “But, I’m happy it happened, oh so happy, because I realized something.” he moved the fingers of the fake arm, the creaking and ticking making his smile flare up, “Arms like this Darling, they never age, all they need is occasional maintenance….”

Vax could feel himself reaching out, but also examining, trying to find any weak points he could use, “Perc-”

“Which got me thinking~ What if I could design a whole body like this? Never aging, never growing old~! If it rusted, well I could just make a new one and start over~!”

“Percy-”

“I started working immediately, unfortunately little Cassie and apparently the rest of the people didn’t seem to agree with me,” his jovial expression turned dark for a moment, “And well, I know you saw my precious children outside Darling, let's just say I have enough fuel for them for quite-”

“Percy!” Vax himself was surprised at how loud his voice was, seeing as he felt about six inches tall.

“Yes~?”

“Percival….” His body still shook, with anger, with sorrow, with fear, “This isn’t right Percy, you can’t just, you can’t just-”

Percy only gave him a sneer, “I can’t what? Not die?” it was a mocking tone, “Is that what your little queen says?” In a flash, Percy went from being on the other side of the room to right in front of Vax, making him believe that his legs had a similar alteration, “You mean the bitch that keeps taking you away from me?”

Instinct kicking in, Vax immediately leapt to the right, avoiding a shot from Retort, daggers already in hand. Percy took a moment to give the gun a scornful look, and Vax used that moment to his advantage, tossing his Keen dagger to the mechanical arm holding Retort. Thankfully it was enough force, the gun falling out of his hand and the arm seeming to fall limp.

Percy’s whole form stilled for a moment as the dagger blinked back to Vax’s belt. He was breathing heavily, watching Percy with a sharp eye for what seemed like an eternity.

“Huh…” Percy’s voice was different from the mocking, almost maniacal tone he had only a moment ago, “Where….where am I?” both his mechanical eye and now the lightening blue eye blinked in unison as he looked around, finally settling on Vax, “Da...Darling?”

“Percy?” He kept his distance, fearing the worst.

Percy looked over himself, the flesh side of his face now a grimace, “No….no he...he couldn’t have…”

“Percy?” Vax started carefully inching towards him.

“Stay back!” Percy waved his still working arm towards him, “I….I don’t know how long I have control…”

“What are you-”

“The Briarwoods were lied to,” Percy’s eye showed a panic Vax had never seen before, “The sphere, it wasn’t….it wasn’t _just_ for Venca!”

“Percy,” Vax tried to hide the worry in his voice, “What are you-”

“Orcus,” Percy barely breathed out, Vax’s eyes widening in horror, “The sphere was mainly for Venca, but somehow Orcus found a way to use it,” he looked over to his limp arm, “I lost my arm trying to figure out a way to remove the sphere and….and I don’t know how, but he used it to take over…” tears were starting to form in the corner of his eye as he breathing became ragged, “Oh Gods, Cassandra….”

“What can I-” He tried once more to reach out.

“He’s going to take back control!” He ran his working hand through his hair, rushing to the other side of the room, “He wasn’t expecting you hitting him and it threw him off, but I can already feel him creeping back.” Percy paced around the same spot, racking his brain. Vax wanted to go over to him, to hold him in his arms once more, but the maniacal tone from before made him freeze where he stood.

“Percival…” Vax forced himself to take a serious tone, only continuing when he saw Percy noting him, “You….you’ve broken the commandments of the Raven Queen….” his voice was becoming weak, and he forced back a sob, “You know what I have to do…”

The panicked expression turned to one of realization, “Yes, yes I do.” he said in an eerily calm voice. He stood at the other side for another moment, barely moving, before being next to Vax in another flash, his flesh hand moving quickly before cupping his cheek, “Run.”

“Wha-”

He was interrupted by the taste of cool metal and the smell of black powder, Percy’s lips encasing his own for a moment before pulling away, “Run, get as far away from here as you can.”

“But-”

A hollowed chuckle, “I know you could kill me in a second, but…..I don’t want that hanging over you Darling,” a quick peck to Vax’s forehead, “Please, run. I have a plan….a fairly clever one….”

“Percy-”

“I love you.” All the anxiousness from before seemed to disappear from Percy, a genuine smile at his lips.

Vax had to bite his lip to keep it from quivering, “I love you too….”

“Run.”

Another flash, and Vax couldn’t feel the hand on his cheek anymore, instead hearing the sound of what seemed to be Percy tinkering with something. Not even bothering to look, he started dashing out the doors, the magic flowing through him.

Feathers scattered as the raven took flight through the wreckage and out the door. Seconds ticked by before a loud _boom_ rang out. The raven could only squawk before it kept flying, refusing to look back.

~~~

“Will you please come to bed?” Keyleth asked, looking to her wife facing the window.

“Um, yeah, sure.” her response was absent minded.

“You’re still worried about him….”

“I'm worried about the both of them…” she leaned against the windowsill, “What if something happened? What if-”

Her question was interrupted with a yelp as something hit the window. Not quite getting a good look, Vex’ahlia opened it to the squawking and feathers scattering from the raven flying in. It took a moment before it finally shifted into her brother.

“Vax?” Keyleth rose from the bed as Vax’s body crumpled to the floor, body shaking.

Vex was immediately at his side, “Vax, what’s-”

“It’s gone,” she could now see his face, wracked with sobs as he mumbled it out.

“Wha-”

“Whitestone….” another sob, “is gone….”

“Percy?” Keyleth squeaked out.

Vax only looked at her for a moment before his face crumpled in despair, leaning against his sister as if he would fall into the ground without her. It took a small _ding_ to take him out of his trance, a small metallic object now in front of him on the ground. He took one hand to encase it, the other against his mouth as he realized what Percy had done.

In Vax’ildan’s hand, was a single silver ring, much like his own, the de Rolo crest carved into its surface.


	15. Day 30: Pillow Talk

He was in love.

The very thought made Vax sink further into his pillow, tail swishing about. He ran a hand through his hair, stopping to scratch at the base of his horns.

He could never get it quite like Percy would, when they were laying on the couch watching shitty movies.

At that Vax let out an inhuman noise into the pillow. He was being so…... _domestic_ with this fucking human it almost disgusted him.

Almost.

His phone _dinged_ at that, forcing him to actually look up. Percy had sent him a text.

**PERCY:**

_Hey, just got out of class. I was thinking hamburgers for Dinner #1 tonight? Ttyl._

He glared at the text for a moment, his grip nearly breaking the phone. Fuck this handsome bastard and his concern and his spending actual time to have fucking perfect grammar-

Oh God (the irony was not lost on him).

“I….lo….lo...shit!” The phone dropped to the couch as he hissed at the words, running his now free hands through his hair once more.

~~~

Percy jogged up the stairs, making sure his laptop was securely over his shoulder. He carefully opened the door.

“Vax, Darling I’m ho-” he stopped mid-sentence, suddenly seeing the trail of roses on the floor leading him to his bedroom.

“Vax….” he was suspicious, Vax had been known to perform an occasional gesture when he wanted to be fed, but this was new.

He followed the trail, taking careful note of how…..clean the apartment looked. It wasn’t odd for Percy to come home to the place looking like a tornado hit it.

“You actually cleaned….up…” he stopped his thought at the sight before him.

Laying on his side, stretched out like a cat, was Vax. His tail waved around lazily as he looked to Percy, a sly grin on his face.

“Percyyyy~” he whined, his six various eyes all directed onto him, making Percy’s blush only grow. In what seemed like a blink of an eye, Vax slinked over to him, his arms hanging lazily around his neck, their lips inches apart, “Feed me.” he purred into his ear, closing the distance.

By magic or Vax’s own determination, Percy could never really tell, but in what seemed like an instant his clothes, his bag, everything was lying on the floor. His hands trailing all over Vax’s lithe form.

Vax’s claws gently raked over his skin as he moved Percy to the bed, balancing his hands on his chest as he straddled Percy’s lap. He carefully leaned over towards the nightstand, grabbing a small silver packet and a bottle of lube (they made Percy feel better, so who was Vax to judge?)

His attention went back to Percy, his sly smile still there as his hands began to wonder downwards, his claws gently running over Percy’s pale skin.

“You look delicious tonight.” Vax purred, his finger lazily trailing around Percy’s entrance before pumping a clawed digit into his entrance, easing around the tight ring of muscle.

Percy let out a loud moan as Vax leaned over him, nuzzling into the crook of his neck as he peppered bits of flesh with kisses.

Even with the haze of lust taking over, Percy couldn’t help but notice something seemed….off with Vax as he raked his own duller fingernails down Vax’s back. Shameless moans escaped him as Vax continued to stretch him open, lips ghosting against Percy’s jaw line before meeting his own.

Another finger began pumping into Percy, Vax’s tail slowly wrapping around his cock, lazily stroking it. He could feel the energy begin to flow into him with every moan and groan Percy let out.

“You like that Percy~?” Another purr as Vax nibbled as his earlobe, shivering at the gasp and moan he got in response. His lips trailed down towards Percy’s neck as he removed his fingers, “I think you’re ready.” this time a snarl came out, one of the six eyes catching Percy’s redden face, pupils blown wide with lust, a sight that caused the Incubus to smile.

He quickly applied the condom and lube, his tail still stroking Percy’s cock. Vax aligned himself against Percy’s entrance, getting the silent confirmation he needed from the human, before inserting his own cock into Percy.

Percy noticed that the thrusting seemed to start out more gentle than usual, Vax seeming to take his time with each rock of his hips. It was agonizing, but oh did it feel so good. Claws trailed up his waist once more, taking Percy’s hand. Even with his senses starting to numb save for the coil of pleasure building up, he could still feel Vax entangling their fingers together, pinning his hand down onto the bed.

After that, it was only the panting and grunting of the two, with the creak of the bed accompanying each thrust. Vax could feel both himself and Percy getting close, moving from his neck to his ear once more, licking at the outer shell.

“I love you.” Vax roughly whispered into Percy’s ear with one more thrust, it being the last push they needed. The creaking stopped, panting filled the room.

Vax plopped onto the free side of the bed, staring at Percy who was staring at the ceiling, a shocked look on his face as the blush starting to fade.

“What…..what did you just say?” Percy started to raise up before wincing, opting instead to prop himself on his elbows, “Just now, didn’t you say something?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Vax’s tail waved lazily in the air, his whole body seeming to glow with newfound energy.

Percy only glared at him, “Bullshit,” The Incubus nuzzled deeper into his pillow, trying to avoid the other’s gaze, “And that’s not all, you were……..gentler tonight,” Percy stared at him, “You’re usually a bit rougher when you-”

He was interrupted mid-sentence when a pair of lips smashed into his own. Percy moaned, giving Vax enough room to slide his forked-tongue inside, exploring every inch of Percy’s mouth.

“I said I love you, shithead.” he breathed out when they parted, “I shouldn’t, I didn’t think I _could_ , but here I am, in love with a stupid, shitty, wonderful human.”

“That’s sounds like an oxymoron I hope you know.”

Three pairs of eyes glared at him, “Shut the fuck up.”

Percy chuckled, giving him a chaste kiss to the lips before wrapping his arm around Vax’s waist, feeling a tail wrapping around his own. His free hand trailed up, starting to scratch at the base of Vax’s horns. He couldn’t help but giggle at the purring sound coming from Vax, making him kiss him once more.

“By the way,” Percy whispered in his ear, “I love you too.”


	16. Day 24: Dealing With Children

Vivian always loved roaming the halls of Whitestone…..during the day at least.

Here, at night, Vivi could hear the moans of the castle, possibly the ghosts that resided here (some villager tried to scare her with that story, before Papa glared at them to stop).

But she had to be out tonight, her slippers padding gently against the castle floor. Daddy was suppose to come back today.

She never really liked it when Daddy had to go out for the Queen (she liked the Queen, don’t get her wrong, she’s the **_best_ ** guest at tea parties!). What she liked even less was when Papa made her go to bed before Daddy could get back (“He’ll be here in the morning, I promise you.”)

Vivi stopped her train of thought at a noise. A shift that made her clutch baby Trinket tighter, paralyzing her and keeping her from shaking at the same time. It took her a moment before she realized she was near one of the many balconies of the castle (Papa always warned her to be careful around there, and to never be near them WITHOUT a grownup).

This night, however, the balcony wasn’t empty. A dark, cloaked figure standing only a little ways from her, black feathers scattering all around.

“He….hello?” Vivi barely squeaked out.

She felt the figure turn in her general direction, “Vivi?” her eyes lit up at the familiar, “Sweetheart what are you doing still up?”

“Daddy!” she ignored the scolding tone, choosing instead to tackle him with a squeal of delight, “You’re home!”

There was an _omph_ sound as she felt his arms encase her, more out of instinct and to keep them from falling over. Feathers were still scattering, movement becoming more wild at the increase in movement.

Vax’ildan’s wings fluttered a bit, his displeased look turning into as smile as he pulled her closer, “Couldn’t sleep I take it?” he chuckled as he felt her shaking her head.

“Not til you got home.”

“Your father’s not going to be pleased you know.” he teased her.

“Papa’s in the workshop.”

She could barely hear the faint _‘fucking bastard’_ , but she didn’t mention it (Papa didn’t like the idea of her swearing, Daddy didn’t really care).

She could feel his grip loosen on her for a moment, “Vivi…” he paused for a beat, “I have...a few more minutes….wanna go for a ride.”

Vivian wasn’t entirely sure what he meant, but still nodded her head. She felt his grip on her tighten to the point where her face was near Papa’s broach (it smelled so lovely).

She still wasn’t sure what was going on until she heard another noise, a _flap._ She pulled her face away to see the wings moving, feathers flying around to the point where she felt one in her hair. Vivian felt this sense of…..wonder as they lifted off, Vax pushing off the edge with his foot.

There was a scream of joy as they flew over the buildings, the snow flying off the rooftops. Their laughter mixed in with one another as they made their way to the edge of the forest, the trees (or what was left of them) swaying under them.

Vax finally stopped in the middle of the forest, the two of them hovering above. Vivi poked her head from his chest, eyes twinkling in delight at the sight before her. The stillness of the night, the way the snow glittered in the moonlight, even the way an occasional feather would catch her eye was a thing of absolute beauty to her eight-year-old eyes.

And like that, they were flying again, this time a little more rushed Vivian noticed. Right as they reached the edge of the balcony, there was a burst of dark feathers. Vax pulled her in close, tumbling into the hallway with another squeak.

  
“What in Pelo-Vax’ildan!” Vivi heard Percy’s voice at the other end of the hall, though she barely noticed it between her and Vax’s laughter.


	17. Day 9: Hugging

The night air was still around the broken-down tavern, the only sounds one could hear were the faint creaking noises as the earth settled.

The two figures sat close to their party, side by side. The dark haired one kept stealing glances over to his white haired companion. If the other man noticed, he didn’t show it as he stared off in another direction, lost in thought.

“Percival.” Vax whispered out.

“Yes?” Percy’s voice came out rough, making the seemingly polite response curt as he shifted his head slightly, acknowledging the rogue’s presence. Vax couldn’t help but take in his appearance; the scruff now dominating his usually smooth face, the bags under his eyes more prominent making it look like they were sunken in. But was the eyes themselves that worried Vax the most, normally clear sapphire eyes were dulled into a more cobalt color, bloodshot from either lack of sleep, nerves, or….

“Are you….no never mind, I already know the answer.” Vax mumbled out.

“You were going to ask if I was okay?” Percy turned his head to properly face Vax, giving him a clear view of the sad dark eyes.

“Yeah, yeah I was,” Vax turned his head away, feeling as if he was drowning under Percy’s gaze, “But I know you’re not.”

“What makes you so confident about that?” A raised white eyebrow.

“What makes me…Percival you fucking ripped a guy’s tongue out!” The words came through gritted teeth as to not wake the rest of the party.

“Technically Grog did that.” Percy argued weakly.

“But you asked him to do it, and….” He bit his lip for a moment, “That smoke…”

Percy took a gloved hand to his forehead, rubbing his temples, “I already told you-”

“I heard what you told us Percival, that doesn’t make it any better!” Vax could feel his body shake with something he couldn’t quite pin down between fury and fear.

“I understand that you’re upset-”

“Upset, that’s a fucking understatement I’m….” Vax took in a deep shaky breath, “I’m fucking terrified, for Vex, for our friends, for _you.”_ His voice broke at the last word.

 _“_ Vax-”

“Percy…” the name felt foreign on his lips, it feeling like an eternity since he last called him by that name.

“I,” Percy removed his hand from his face, looking Vax dead in the eye, “I admit, something….dark might be around me,” Percy took in a deep breath, exhaling shakily, “And I can’t…I can’t promise that I’ll be the me that you love. I wish I could Darling, oh how I wish. But, whatever this is….I don’t know. I simply don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m also terrified, for what I’m putting everyone through, for what I’m putting _you_ through.”

Vax looked over Percival once more. His dark eyes lightened only slightly, but it made the previously cold, distant looking man seem like a frightened child. He let out another shaky breath before swallowing and closing his eyes in thought.

“You say that something dark is around you,” in the blink of an eye Vax was gone. Percy blinked again to confirm what he had just seen before a pair of slender arms wrapped around his waist. Vax placed his chin on Percy’s shoulder, “Well, I’d like to think I’m pretty good at traversing through dark places…” he whispered into the gunslinger’s ear.

“You’re an expert Darling.” Percy whispered back, turning his head to place a kiss on the rogue’s cheek.

Vax buried his head into Percy’s neck, “I’ll get you through this Percy, I swear,” he whispered, his body shaking, “Even if I have to drag your body through the darkness, I will get you out, do you understand handsome?” he nuzzled deeper into the other man’s neck, trying to keep his breathing even.

“Perfectly Darling.” He placed a hand over one of Vax’s at his waist, squeezing it in reassurance.

~~~

“I perfectly understand that I’m the last person on Exandria you’d like to see,” Percy mumbled quietly. Vax was sitting on one of the ledges outside the castle, staring out into the night sky with a look Percy’s seen far too often recently, “But I-”

“You don’t need to come up with a bullshit excuse Percival. It’s your castle, do whatever the fuck you want.”

Percy honestly wasn’t sure what hurt more, the venom in Vax’s words or the fact that he had called him _Percival._

“True, but you’re-”

Vax immediately rose from his seat, “I’m going to bed, goodnight Perciv-”

“Vax’ildan,” Percy placed a hand over the other man’s chest as he tried to walk by, stopping him, “We need to talk.”

“Not much to talk about,” The response came through gritted teeth, “You killed my sister, I’m beyond pissed at you, you apologized, I punched you, we’ve covered everything I think.”

Percy could feel his stomach drop in guilt as the image of Vex’ahlia’s cold lifeless body flashed in his mind. He shook his head, removing the image, “That’s not what we need to talk about. Are you….no never mind, I already know the answer.” Percy mumbled out, keeping his hand firm on Vax’s chest.

“You were going to ask me if I’m okay.”

“Yes, yes I was.”

“Percival if you think for one fucking second I regret-”

“I know you don’t regret making that deal Da…Vax,” Percy gritted his own teeth.

“I already told you Perciv-”

“I heard what little you told us,” Even around Vax Percy could feel his snark rising to dangerous levels, “It was difficult to hear everything when you immediately walked off.”

“Per-”

The possible string of curses from Vax died in his mouth as a cawing sound interrupted him. The two men turned to see a raven staring at them, placed exactly where Vax had been only moments ago. It tilted its head at the two, dark beady eyes staring at them. The raven let out another caw before it took off into the night sky. Percy looked at where the creature had been before he noticed Vax’s body shaking under his hand. He looked, seeing the tears welling up in the rogue’s eyes.

“Vax?” was all Percy managed to get out before he rushed to catch an off-balance Vax, grabbing him by the waist in one hand and his wrist in the other one, “Darling what’s wrong?” His body was still shaking under Percy’s grasp.

“Perciv….Percy….” tears slid down Vax’s cheeks as he looked up to face teh gunslinger, “I don’t know what’s going on Percy….I just…I feel so empty…” a combination of a shaky breath and a sob escaped Vax’s lips as he leaned into Percy’s chest, crying into his coat.

“Darling…”

“I hate you so much right.” He sobbed out.

“I know.” Percy moved so he was hugging Vax, rubbing circles into his back in a soothing manner.

“But you know I love you too…” it was sniffled out.

“I know, I know you do.” Percy gave a quick kiss to the top of Vax’s head as he continued trying to soothe him.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen…” It seemed Vax had stopped crying mostly as he tightened his grip on Percy’s coat.

“Darling,” Percy pulled away just barely to look Vax in the face, “I…I have an idea about this dark, empty feeling you have and I promise you,” he pulled him to his chest again, “Even if I have to drag your body across the darkness, I will get you out Vax’ildan I swear. Do you understand me?” He buried his face in Vax’s hair.

Vax’s body slowed down, the shaking still there but not as strong as he weakly whispered out, “Alright Percy.”


	18. Day 26: Interacting With Family Members

Vex’ahlia had died.

At least, that’s what everyone had been telling her the day after they fought the Beholder, a day Vex spent picking pieces from the rest of her party, all except two of them….

She had honestly been avoiding Percival and her brother, actually it would be more accurate to say _they_ had been avoiding her. Ever since they had left the temple, neither one of them had talked to her.

Vex sighed as she walked through the halls of Whitestone, having returned from her visit with Keyleth and Lady Kima. Trinket plodded by her, happy for the rare time out of his armor. She was still deep in thought when a sound broke her concentration.

“What do you mean?” it was her brother’s voice, strained and tired. Vex immediately hugged the nearby wall, shushing Trinket as she carefully creeped against it to get closer.

A quick peek around the corner and Vex was able to see the two men. Vax was looking straight at Percy, his eyes cold and hard. Percy was looking away in the opposite direction, so Vex was unable to look at his face.

“I was careless….” Percy’s voice drifted off 

“Well, what happened?” Vax sounded confused, and possibly a little hurt if Vex was correct. Percy explained (briefly) about opening the casket and the events afterwards.

Their voices became so low even Vex’s elven ears couldn’t pick them out. She risked a quick peek around the corner right when Vax’s fist connected with Percy’s jaw. She put a hand to her mouth to suppress the yelp threatening to escape from her mouth. Percy hadn’t fallen from the blow and managed to straighten himself out again, tongue running over his teeth.

“Percival…” Vax’s voice was shaking as Vex turned back, finally being able to hear, “I’ve trusted you with _so. many. things.”_ Percy was eerily quiet during this whole thing, “But you somehow manage to break them, every single fucking TIME!” Vex nearly flinched, she had never heard her brother’s voice raise to such an extent. At that, Percy mumbled so quietly she couldn’t hear him, apparently neither could Vax, “What was that?”

“I said that’s rather hilarious coming from you Vax’ildan.” Of all the times she gagged whenever Percy would call her brother _Darling,_ she’d happily take it all back to hear him say it again right now.

“You think this is a fucking joke Percival?” There was an almost animalistic growl to Vax’s voice.

“No I don’t, I don’t treat your sister’s life like you treat your own!” Now Percy’s voice was raising to uncomfortable volumes.

“Come again?” her brother let out this humorless, disbelieving laugh.

“You _must_ think your life’s a joke Vax’ildan,” Percy started through gritted teeth, “When you practically hand it anyone who’s remotely dangerous on a fucking silver platter!” 

“I risk my life so cowards like you who are so fucking hell-bent on revenge can live another day.”

Vex was amazed no one else had come by with how loud these two were yelling at one another. She peeked around the corner again to see her brother red-faced in anger, finger on Percy’s chest. Percy was equally red still from his earlier rant, but he looked less angry and more….hurt?

“I see,” Percy looked in the other direction as Vex turned back around, “I never knew what you really thought about me, how enlightening.” it was a dry, sarcastic comment as Percy turned his head again, sneering at Vax.

“Percy-”

“No no, this coward is going to do what cowards do best, leave.” and with that Percy turned in what Vex assumed was the opposite direction of her and walked off, leaving her still red-faced brother. Vax took the hand that was poking Percy’s chest and balled it into a fist.

“I fucking despise you Percival de Rolo, to think I married a man like you!” he shouted towards Percy before storming off himself.

Vex hugged the wall again when she heard his footsteps getting closer. Whether it was her luck or his rage, Vax failed to see his sister as he walked down the hall, steam practically coming out of his ears. She trailed the wall again to follow, only stopping when he took a brief second to pet Trinket, his mood making him forget to question where his owner was.

Vex followed her brother for a few minutes until he stopped at one of the balconies of the castle. From her position he placed his hands on the banister, body shaking in what she assumed was heavy breathing. The breathing was replaced shortly with….was that sobbing?

“You fucking bastard,” Vax mumbled as he lowered his head, putting his hands through his hair, “I hate you I hate you I fucking hate you.” she could hear her brother chanting as he lifted himself back up, fiddling with his fingers to Vex’s best guess, “Fuck you Percival, and fuck your shitty ring.” 

It took everything in Vex’ahlia to not scream at her brother and reveal her position as he threw something outside. Though she couldn’t see it, Vex knew _exactly_ what it was, her’s brother’s ring. The ring he had giddily shown her only a few days ago, and he just tossed it like it was a fucking piece of coal.

She watched as her brother continued to sob a bit longer before walking off. When she was certain he was out of ear-shot, Vex rushed to the balcony, analyzing the ground below with a groan.

~~~

“Alright Trinket, see if you can sniff it out.” Vex petted the bear’s head, and with a grunt Trinket’s nose was on the ground, sniffing. Vex herself got onto her knees and began shifting through the grass. Crickets chirped through the night sky as Vex scanned the area, her irritation growing with every second she didn’t feel a cool metal under her fingertips.

“Perhaps this might help?” with the voice came a light Vex’ahlia could see behind her. Covering her eyes she turned to see a familiar staff, and equally familiar red skin.

“I appreciate it darling, but how did you-”

“I like to come out and walk at night sometimes, especially when the moon’s as gorgeous as it is tonight,” she lifted her head to the object in question, “I saw a bear and put two and two together. Might I ask why you’re out here?”

“I’m saving my brother’s marriage from himself.” she didn’t expect to be so direct in her answer, but Zahra always made her feel safe for some reason…

“I actually saw Vax earlier,” Zahra held a delicate finger to her chin, “It looked like he was going away from Percy’s room, did they have a lover’s quarrel?” she chuckled at the question until she noticed Vex starting to shake.

“Are you fucking serious?”

“Dearest, what’s-”

“I have to find that fucking ring!” with that she turned back around, practically clawing at the grass, “Vax why would you….” she trailed off.

“I feel as though I’m missing something…”

“Vax is such a smug little shit about his and Percy’s room. _Oh, I’ll just put this in Percy’s-_ **In our room** , he would always interrupt you to correct you,” Vex copied her brother’s speech, “so for him to…..for him to…” Vex could feel the tears slipping out, “Zahra, In what to me was a blink of an eye, my brothers go from being disgustingly adorable to, to these,“ she waved her hands around, “miserable, arguing strangers and I don’t know what to do!” she ran her hands through her hair, the tears falling free. In the corner of her eye Vex saw the light move as an arm wrapped around her shoulder and a kiss pressed to her temple.

“Dearest,” her smooth voice rang in Vex’s ear, “I’m afraid there’e nothing you can really do, they have to sort this out themselves.”

“I..” she started to calm down, “I know, but you didn’t see my brother Zahra, I’ve only seen that look one other time…” she refused to finish the sentence as another smaller sob wracked through her. Zahra started rubbing her back and the two were in silence for a moment before a small grunt interrupted them. 

Trinket rubbed his nose into his master’s face, nuzzling it for a moment before opening his mouth. There was a small sound as something fell to the ground. Wiping her tears, Vex grabbed at what Trinket had found, feeling cool (if slightly slimy) material under her fingers. 

She let out a shaky, happy breath as she hugged Trinket’s neck, “You’re such a good boy, yes you are yes you are!” she ruffled his fur a bit before turning to Zahra, giving her a quick peck on the lips.

~~~

Despite her late night, Vex had risen early and walked to the same spot she was in only hours ago. She was not alone, however, as she noticed her brother crouched down and padding his hands on the grass in frantic motions. She watched quietly for a few moments, before deciding he had had enough.

“I should let you suffer a few more hours, make you feel my pain,” her voice made him yelp as he jumped to his feet. He turned to her, showing his blood shot eyes and bags, “But I feel like not cleaning Trinket’s slobber off it is enough of a punishment.” she held out his ring and in a moment his eyes lit up.

“Ve…Vex’ahlia…” he mumbled out as he grabbed the ring from her hands.

“I know I know, best sister in the world.” she flipped her hair as he slipped the ring on.

Vax held out his hand, examining the ring, before placing it to his chest, squeezing it with his other hand as tears welled up in his eyes, “I was so worried I had….”

“Well, you’re lucky is all I have to say. Next time don’t throw expensive shit away!” she scolded him as she lightly slapped his arm.

He rubbed at the spot with a small chuckle before his eyes widened, “Vex’ahlia how did you-”

“Before you finish that, isn’t there someone you need to talk to?”

“Vex, I-”

“I know I know, you’re shitty at anything that isn’t about stabbing, stealthing, or fucking Percy, but brother,” she put her hands over his own, “You need to talk to him.” she squeezed his hands.

He turned his head, refusing to meet his sister’s gaze “I wasn’t going to saying that.” as all he mumbled.

“I know, that’s why I said it for you.” she squeezed his hands once more before turning and walking away.

~~~

Vex’ahlia wasn’t entirely sure what her brother had done after she had left until much later, when they were in the Fire Plane helping Keyleth and her people. To close the rift, Vax had risked his life (again) and one of his cloaks. It had worked up until Vax started falling into the lave, only to be saved by Keyleth’s grasping vine.

It was a rough landing, but her brother managed to hit solid ground with a thud next to one of Gern’s skeletons. Vex had a late start in running to her brother (she was a bite more concerned about her recently stolen broom now that Vax was safe). When she finally made her way over, she saw that Percy had well beaten them, crouched down and encasing Vax in what she assumed to be a crushing hug. He only pulled away after a bit and the two started talking. She couldn’t hear them from this distance, but was able to read their lips.

 _“I’m…..I’m an idiot…”_ her brother murmured out.

 At that gave him a small smirk, _“I’m very well aware of that,”_ then leaned in for a quick kiss, _“But you’re my Darling idiot….”_ another kiss.


	19. Day 8: Sleeping In

Groans echoed throughout the room, golden cups and scraps of food covering the floor.

“Percival,” Vax’s voice broke through, “What the fuck happened last night?” he ran a hand through his hair as he raised up, the blanket falling over his naked form.

“There…there was food, wine, a lot of wine, Keyleth was going around as a drunken tiger, I’m pretty sure we had sex.” Percy was still nuzzled into the pillow, the blanket only covering up to his waist.

“That’s the only part I’m not questioning.” Even hungover, the teasing tone was still present as he smirked, “Oh mighty God.”

“Oh other mighty God,” Percy rose up, “I believe our worshippers are out there, waiting for us.”

Vax took that moment to pounce, straddling Percy with a wicked smile, “The worshippers can go-”

“Well would you look at that, apparently the Gods can’t hold their liquor that well,” a voice interrupted them, both men turned to see a cloaked figure, the posture indicating that they were smirking at them, “And apparently they’re lovers, interesting.” they chuckled.

Vax wasn’t entirely sure if it was him or Percy that made the shrieking noise (he’s just going to say it was Percy), but immediately the two men jolted in the bed, covering themselves.

“Be….beware mortal!” Percy yelled at them, one hand holding the blanket, the other pointing a finger, “You’ve invoked the wrath o-”

“Oh please,” Vax could feel the figure rolling their eyes, “I already knew you were fucking fake when you walked in,” they chuckled, “Hardly my fault these people are suckers.”

Vax raised a dark eyebrow before quickly grabbing his pants and putting them on, “How did you-”

“Well, don’t know about you,” the figure slowly started removing their hood, “But I’m not a God.” The hood was now down, a familiar face staring at Vax, a small sad smile on her lips, “Hello brother dearest-”

She barely got the sentence out before his arms encased her, his body shaking as he buried his head into the crook of her neck, “Vex’ahlia…”

“So, I leave you alone for a year or so and you run off and get a boyfriend.” she teased him, pulling away and lightly slapping his chest.

“Wha….no no no, it wasn’t like that.”

“I just….started helping him try to find you.” Percy explained, not having moved from the bed.

“Yeah….you did,” Vax turned, giving him a small smile, “And…a lot of things happened in the process…”

“Stuff was stolen.”

“Guards were avoided.”

“Beds were shared.”

“Vows were exchanged.”

“You’re both fucking gross.”

He turned back to her, “Vex, I looked for you in every nook and cranny,” he bit his lip, “And when I found a map to El Dorado,” He could feel Percy glare at him, “Okay, when I stole a map to El Dorado, the place you would never shut up about…..” he gave her a teasing smile, “I thought it was worth a shot….”

“The whole Gods thing? That was totally unintentional,” Percy clarified, “Had no plans for that, at all….I’m sorry I’m still really hungover…..”

Vex looked between the two men, “Fair enough I suppose,” she mumbled, “Would either of you…..be against reaping the benefits of this happy little accident?”


	20. Day 6: Making Fun of One Another

“Don’t you dare think this means I’m not m-ahhhhhh-mad at you Percival!” Vax gasped out, fingers digging into Percy’s shoulders as he rode him. Water sloshed with each rock of their hips.

Percy arched his head back, a low moan escaping him, “What have I said about mixed messages dearest?”

“Fuck you.”

“You’re currently doing that.” a rock of Percy’s hips. Vax arched his back, cock twitching as his hair stuck to his face and shoulders.

“I hate you,” another rock, “so much,” his hands moved, tangling themselves into Percy’s hair as he pulled him, crashing their lips against each other.

The kiss was mostly teeth, and Percy was almost certain his lips would be swollen and bleeding when this was all over, but it was worth it to feel Vax shake and shudder as he came.

Vax’s lips moved down, biting at his neck as he rocked a few more times, making Percy come shortly after.

The water finally stopped sloshing around, calming with the two men. Vax didn’t move from his spot straddling his legs, brown staring into blue.

His gaze lowered towards Percy’s lips, seeing a small trail of blood running down to his chin. He stared at it for a few moments, a deep sigh escaping him.

“Fucking dumbass.” he mumbled as he pulled Percy once more.

This kiss was far more gentle, Percy noticed as he felt warmth. Vax pulled away and the feeling went with him. Percy carefully put a hand to his lips, no longer feeling the cut.

“I’m not going to have anyone ask where you got that.” Vax explained, his tone rough despite pressing their foreheads together, closing his eyes.

“I could have just said it happened in my workshop.”

Vax opened his eyes again, glaring at him, “Darling, you’re the shittiest liar.”

“I’d argue that.”

“Of course you would.”


	21. Day 19: Spoiling one another

“Kids!” The twins heard their mother shouting from the living room, “You have a package!”

Vax was the first downstairs (only because Vex was busy calming Trinket she told him), practically sliding into the kitchen on his socks. With a grunt, Elaina placed the box on the kitchen counter.

“I dunno what the fuck’s in it,” she mumbled before turning to her son, “You didn’t order anything did you?”

Vax’s lips were in a hard line, shaking his head, “Nope, not a thing,” he carefully walked over to the package, there was the shipping label with his name and address, “From Amazon?”

Vex trailed in behind him, looking over his shoulder for the package. Their mother only shrugged before walking back to the living room. 

“Who the fuck knows our address?” Vex asked, tapping her fingers on the counter.

“The group chat?”

“You think Scanlan sent us that dildo he promised.”

“Godddd…” Vax sighed as he started opening the package, the idea taking out any former fear, “If that fucker did I’m gonna drive to Vegas and kill him.”

“Can I join you? Maybe we can use his dead body for the toll.” 

Vax could only snort, “Nah, I’m pretty sure there’s a rule-holy fucking shit!” 

The package was opened, the front cover of a PS4 showing underneath the wrapping.

“Wh….what the-?” Vex stuttered as she flipped the box over, double checking the address. Vax took out the note on top.

_ Care to IM me when you get this? Want to make sure it arrives safely.  _

_ ~Percy _

Without missing a beat, Vax was back up stairs, his headset on haphazardly as he clicked the call icon.

One ring.

Two.

Three.

“Hello?” Percy’s voice rings from the other end, calm if slightly confused.

“You fucking bastard.”

“Wh-” Percy interrupted himself with a laugh, “I take it your package arrived then?”

“What the fuck Percival?” Vax’s voice was high and squeaky at this point, partly out of disbelief and partly out of he doesn’t even know what.

“Well, now you don’t have an excuse to not play Overwatch with me, neither does your sister,” He could hear the smile in Percy’s voice, “Sides, it’s almost your birthday isn’t it?”

Vax couldn’t stop the fond smile forming on his lips, “Asshole.”

“I’ll take that as my thank you dearest.” another chuckle, “Now get it set up and play with meeee!” he whined, “I’m bored and no one’s online!”

“You poor baby.” Vax mocked him.

“Yes, I am, thank you for acknowledging it.”

~~~

Percy couldn’t help but let out a sigh as he finished his shift, stretching out the kinks in his back. It had been one hell of a day, rude customers and the usual shit his boss threw at him.

The drive home (thankfully) was quiet and peaceful as he pulled into the driveway, jingling his keys as he walked through the front door. 

“Hey,” Cassandra yelled to him in greeting from the couch, not even bothering to look at him, “You got mail today.” she told him, pointing.

Raising a pale eyebrow, Percy made his way to the kitchen, noting the small, rectangular brown box on the counter. He carefully opened it, unwrapping the paper.

It was a book, the blue black and silver cover shining in the dim light. Silver lettering read  _ Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. _

Percy ran his fingers over the book, analyzing it for a moment before bolting to his room, leaving the package on the counter.

“Hello?” Vax’s voice could not have come sooner Percy thought as he readjusted his headset.

“H….hi…” Percy mumbled, “So….I got your package…”

“Oh did you?” Vax chuckled, “Good...I’m sorry it's not much,” he immediately apologized, “I don’t have a lot but….that book reminds me of you...of us...as cheesy as that sounds...” another chuckle.

“It’s perfect,” Percy reassured him, still running his hand over the cover, “Would you...would you care for me to read it to you?”

  
A pause, and a small happy sigh, “I’d love that Percy.”


	22. Day 27: Moving in together

“I’ve reviewed over the lease like, fifty times,” Vax’s voice was on the other end. Percy couldn’t help but smirk as he flipped the omelet he was making, he knew where this was going, “There’s nothing against having pets, Percy we can have a pet!” the glee in his voice was almost childish, it made Percy’s chest swell with pride.

“I take it Simon will get a new home along with us?” he asked, playing the game he loved so much.

“Yes! Now that pet shop owner can stop fucking giving me the stink eye.”

“In defense of Viktor, I think that’s just his face,” Percy chuckled, placing his omelet on a plate, “But, how about we get Simon the week after we move in? Get settled and all that?” he asked before taking his first bite.

“Yeah, yeah that sounds good….” Percy could hear the smile in Vax’s voice, almost in disbelief, “Holy shit it’s really happening….”

“It is…” he paused mid-bite, the realization hitting him as well, “It is…”

~~~

“I don’t want to see another fucking box in my life.” Vax groaned out. Him and Percy both plopped down onto the couch, surrounded by boxes and the random unpacked item here and there. Percy could only groan in response, leaning against Vax’s back for support.

“We’re maybe…..a third of the way finished,” he paused, lost in thought for a moment, “Did we unpack the dishes?”

“No. Fucking me wanted to clean the cabinets first….” Vax rested his head against Percy’s shoulder, purring in comfort.

“Fast food?”

“You know it.”

“What do you want?”

“Pizza?”

Percy quickly pulled out his phone, dialing the number, “I could go for a slice of Gilmore’s.”

“Sounds good,” Vax looked around the crowded yet empty living room, “Percy…”

“Yeah?”

“We have a place of our own….”

Percy shifted his gaze from his phone, looking around with Vax, a small smile on his lips, “Yeah….we do.” he turned his head, gently kissing Vax’s cheek, “Now I only have to argue with you about dinner, not Keyleth….”

Vax opened his eyes, moving his head so his lips connected with Percy’s, “And now,” he purred into the kiss, “I don’t have to worry about annoying sisters or dogs,” he lightly pushed Percy, making him fall onto the couch. Vax crawled over top of him with a devious smirk and a twinkle in his eye, “Interrupting us…” he growled, kissing Percy once more.

  
“The bed’s not fully made…” was the only retort he made as him and Vax continued kissing, the smile on his lips never faltering at how little either one cared about that.


	23. Day 10: Watching the Other Sleep

Percy awoke with a gasp, sweat trailing down his brow. He swallowed as he ran a hand through his stark white hair. He tried to calm himself, remembering that he wasn’t alone.

His nerves seemed to ease slightly as he saw the sleeping body next to him, dark hair a mess and snoring slightly, causing Percy to chuckle slightly (Vax swore up and down that he never snored).

He turned again, facing the darkness of their room. Another few deep breathes, in and out, in and out.

This was going to be a long night, Percy could already feel the insomnia settle deep within his bones. He sighed, leaning back against the headboard and pillows, looking to his lover once more.

He took note of the way Vax’s hair framed his face, the sharp contours of his nose and the cheeks that he loved to kiss so much. What Percy loved to see the most was the steady rise and fall of Vax’s chest, it showed him that his lover was alive, breathing, and healthy.

Considering what they did for a living, that was a rarity and a blessing.

Percy could feel his body sinking deeper into the pillows, his eyes getting heavier as he continued to watch Vax sleeping. He could feel the smile returning to his lips as his eyes closed, sleep overtaking him for once.

~~~

Vax never considered himself a morning person.

It’s not to say that he  _ detested  _ them, he could get up relatively fine when needed, but that never meant he was thrilled to see the morning sun seep through the curtains, almost blinding him despite his eyes being closed.

He laid still for a few minutes, testing to see if he would drift back to unconsciousness. Letting out a quiet moan when he realized he wouldn’t be falling asleep anytime soon, Vax opened his eyes, blinking to focus them.

Laying next to him was Percy, still sleeping like a log with his arms wrapped around his pillow and hair every which way (well, moreso than usual).

A breathless chuckle escaped Vax as he took in the sight. Percy was hardly known as one to get a lot of sleep, so it was rare to see him so…..peaceful and calm. He carefully took his hand to move a strand of hair aside, thankful it didn’t wake his lover up. 

He eased into his pillow, satisfied with the fact he wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep and instead enjoying the view.

“You’re ridiculously lovely…...you know that?” Vax mumbled to himself, freezing once he saw Percy begin to stir.

“Huh….what was that?” He sleepily asked, starting to rub his eyes awake.

“Nothing, you’re hearing things love.” Vax smiled, pecking at Percy’s lips, “G’morning.”

  
“Morning.”


	24. Day 17: Washing Something

“Sleep well?” Vax asked, starting to prop himself on his elbows.

“Mostly,” Percy replied, giving Vax another peck to the lips, “And yourself?”

“Lovely,” He couldn’t help but cringe, “Darling, I love you but your breath tastes like shit.”

“I’d have to agree, your’s is the same,” a laugh was shared between the two.

“Bath?”

“Bath,” Percy rose from the bed, stretching out the kinks within his body, “We almost smell like Grog.”

“Gods don’t even joke Percival!” Vax teased him as he got out of bed, walking around their room shamelessly.

It took several minutes, most of which was spent trying to pull Percy out of bed (if Vax considered himself not a morning person, Percy was  **definitely** not a morning person), but eventually the two made their way to the bath. It didn’t take long for the tub to be filled with the steaming hot water.

“After you dearest,” Percy motioned to the tub. Vax only stared at him, raising a dark eyebrow, “What?”

“I don’t care if you’re taller than me handsome,” Vax smirked, “I’m not going in first.”

The two stared at one another for awhile before Percy sighed in defeat, getting into the tub first. He could feel Vax behind him, the water sloshing around with his entrance. Once he felt his lover lean back, he felt compelled to do the same, carefully putting his weight against Vax.

Percy could hear Vax putting something in his hands before gentle, calloused fingers tangled themselves in his hair, gently massaging his scalp.

“I swear the black powder’s starting to flake off you,” He commented, massaging Percy’s head in a way that made him nearly mewl, “Didn’t you just wash your hair?”

Percy could only groan out a response as Vax continued working his fingers through his scalp. This continued for a few minutes until Percy felt a gush of water pour over him, his hair getting rinsed out. He felt the shift of Vax turning around, handing him the bottle. Percy responded without another word, combing through Vax’s hair with the shampoo.

  
He loved mornings like this.


	25. Day 28: Falling in Love

It was the kiss…..the kiss that started it all.

Percy remembers it like it just happened, the dry warm air of the Underdark, the adrenaline pumping in his veins, and the cracked lips of Vax’ildan as they met with his cheek.

His cheek….it was only his cheek Percy remembers.

One cheek kiss lead to several, cheeks became lips, kisses became so much more.

Percy was never entirely sure if their first few nights Vax had the same passion as he felt. But if he were being honest with himself he could hardly care, remembering instead the sweaty, panting mess the two would leave the night as.

It was after the Slayer’s Take, Percy’s almost certain. That night, Vax was so….gentle with Percy (honestly he shouldn’t have been doing anything as strenuous as sex, but Percy nearly died that night he felt he deserved to live a little). He was slow, careful, kissing every inch of Percy’s skin.

When they were done, the moonlight making Vax’s face almost halo-like (Percy was still convinced Vax was some sort of angel, he just never had the proof to back it up), he just….stared at Percy, tears starting to well in his eyes.

“You bastard,” he could hear Vax mumble, “You’re not allowed to die...you hear me? You’re not.” Vax was balancing himself on Percy’s chest, letting the gunslinger feel the tears fall to his cheeks.

  
It was that night, Percy thought, the night they nearly lost one another, that was the night Vax’ildan fell in love with him. 


	26. Day 15: Teaching Each Other How To Do Something

“Careful, careful, keep your wrist firm but relaxed,” Vax instructed, his hand ever so slightly adjusting Percy’s grip on the knife, “Otherwise you’re gonna fuck your wrist up and throw like shit.”

“You have such a way with words Darling,” Percy felt a smack on his ass, refusing to give Vax the satisfaction of seeing his smirk, “Alright.” he held his breath for a moment, flinging the knife. With a  _ swoosh _ and a  _ clang  _ the knife sunk into the wood of the target, near the edge, “Fuck.” was all Percy could say, running a hand through his hair.

“Hey handsome, you hit the target this time!” Vax cheered him on as the knife blinked back to his belt, “You’re improving already!” he added, handing him the knife once more.

Percy only sighed as he took the knife once more, getting back into position.

~~~

“And from here, you need to mold the metal with the hammer,” Percy instructed, the pang of his hammer used to drive in the point, “The more you get it to cooperate, the higher quality….are you even listening to me?”

“Huh?” Vax’s head was in his hands, a distant smile on his lips, “Yeah, totally.”

“What did I just say?”

“Something about pounding and cooperation, subjects I’m always excited about.” the waggle of Vax’s eyebrows did not lower Percy’s irritation.

“You know, you’re the one that asked me to teach you how to make bullets for whatever reason….” he mumbled as he looked over the sheet.

“Oh, there was a reason,” Vax leaned closer, playful smirk turning devious, “A chance to see your arms at work, phew,” he started to fan himself, “You’re simply too much Percival.”

“Are you….Oh my Gods….” exasperation turned to amusement almost immediately, “Well….at least you’re honest.” he admitted with a chuckle.

  
“Only with you love~”


	27. Day 29: Doing A Chore Around the House

There was a serene peace in the de Rolo household, the only sounds being the running of water and a soft hum.

Vax’ildan washed a plate, humming a seemingly meaningless tune as he handed it to Percy, who rinsed and dried the plate, carefully placing it on the rack.

“How’s the editing coming along?” Vax asked him, trying to scratch off a particularly stubborn bit of grime.

“Eh, it’s coming, nothing too serious and Vex should be more than pleased with it,” Percy answered as he carefully rearranged the dishes drying on the rack for more room, he sighed, “We really need to stop letting them pile up so badly.”

“You say for the fiftieth time, and for the fiftieth time we’re gonna forget,” A chuckle escpaed Vax as he handed the plate over, “We’re not the most diligent people Percival…”

“Eh, we have our moments,” a quick peck to Vax’s cheek, “How’s the new Skyrim video coming along.” 

At that a groan escaped Vax, “I almost want that series to die!” he moaned out before adding, “Almost,” a sigh, “I’m running out of ideas….”

“I can imagine, that series is old.”

“Old as balls.” he chuckled, sighing in relief as he finished the last dish, “I was actually thinking about starting something new for the slot, and like, switch out?”

Percy smirked as he carefully finished with the rack, “I like it, it might take awhile for fans to get used to it, but I like it, any ideas of where to start?”

“Well,” Vax tapped his fingers against one another, “I was thinking…..I could play Bloodborne.”

“Vax…..”

“And you could coach me?” the hope on Vax’s face was hard to ignore, despite Percy’s best efforts.

“Honey no.”

“Percy yes!”

“Do you want me to yell at you?” Percy grimaced, “I’m not proud of it but you know how I get about those games.”

“I know and that’s why I think it could work!” Vax still shined with optimism, “I think people would like seeing you get angry at me!”

A pale eyebrow was raised as Percy looked at him before hanging his head, “Alright, on one condition,” he pointed a finger at Vax, “After we finish Bloodborne, and we so are, we’re playing Earthbound.”

“Ohhhh….I like it,” he smirked, pecking at the other man’s lips, “That’ll be a nice nostalgia trip.”

“For you maybe….I never played it.”

A blank stare, “Are you fucking serious?” a nod, “Then fuck Bloodborne, we’ll do that late….wait….” he could see Percy’s smirk, “You….I hate you.”

“That ring on your finger would imply otherwise.”

  
All that was left was a yelp as a dirty dish rag was flung Percy’s way.   


	28. Day 11: Drawing Each Other

Percy always has that sketchbook/notebook of his. No matter where Vox Machina goes, no matter what they do, if there’s so much as five minutes of lull time, Percy’s on the ground, pencil or charcoal or whatever the man can get his hands on scribbling against paper.

He never showed what he drew or wrote to the rest of the group. It wasn’t so much that he refused to show anyone, it was simply that no one had ever bothered to ask. If one were to ask, however, there would be a few strict limitations on what one could and could not see.

For instance, Percy absolutely REFUSED to show anyone the back of his book, where pages and pages were littered with sketches, all of them the same subject. If one were to look, they could easily track Percy’s progress, how he was finally able to match the exact sharpness of Vax’s nose, or the exact pieces of hair that always stuck out, no matter what style it was in. What Percy would argue was his greatest achievement was how he thought he finally perfected Vax’ildan’s eyes, the right blend of the firm, cold look he usually held with the warmth that was never far behind.

Percy would only refuse to show someone those sketches because despite his progress, it wasn’t enough. He needed to capture the beauty that was Vax’ildan perfectly, and what he had at the moment was far from it.

Vax’ildan, on the other hand, was a bit more….resourceful in comparison. He rarely had a free moment, preferring to go on patrol for the group. When he did, however, he would always find whatever scrap of paper or parchment (one time he remembered it being a leaf or a piece of tree bark), dig out the chalk he used for marking traps, and start to doodle.

Now, Vax never considered himself an artist. He could draw a mean dick and balls on one Goalith’s face, but beyond that he was lost. That never stopped him from scribbling over whatever he managed to acquire; a round pair of glasses, a ridiculously ornate coat, and hair and eyes so bright Vax felt that his measly chalk could hardly do it justice.

He never felt the need to work long on these doodles, seeing as he would throw them away minutes later. It wasn’t for lack of interest, Vax just simply thought there was no need to keep them, especially seeing as how…...crude they were.

  
No, Percival deserved more than a childish render of him image, that was what Vax always thought as he discarded another doodle, taking note that he seemed to get the gleam of the glasses right this time.   


	29. Day 21: Buying Flowers For The Other

Vax’ildan fucking hated working retail. Especially on Friday nights where school kids would be out late (the kids were never particularly bad customers, they just added to the already gigantic shitshow he had to deal with).

He pulled into the apartment parking lot, letting out an irritated groan when he remembered Percy was working the night shift as a security guard. Great.

Vax could feel his shoulders sag as he unlocked their apartment, trailing into the kitchen in the hopes of making a small snack before bed. The hum of the refrigerator was a comfort as he looked over the contents, an odd smell interrupting his thoughts.

“Percival I swear,” he mumbled, looking harder before closing the fridge and turning around, “If one of your fucked-up experiments...has…”

There, laying on the table, black ribbon wrapped around the vase, a bouquet of roses met his gaze, deep red and emitting a smell Vax now found to be utterly delightful.

He carefully pinched one of the petals between his fingers, amazed at the velvety texture, before seeing the note attached to the ribbon (Percy and his fucking black ribbon, Vax didn’t realize he was dating such an ‘edgelord’ he thought fondly). There, in very lovely cursive (per Percy once more), was a message.

_ Hey, _

_ I’m sorry if work’s been a little hectic for the past little while. But I’m still here for you, even if….I might not be here physically….poor wording on my part, but the sentiment still stands! Get some rest, I’ll see you in the morning!  _

_ Love, _

_ Percival _

Vax’ildan could feel his eyes sting with tears, he wasn’t sure if it was from the flowers or how tired he was or maybe both, a smile on his lips. He took in one, good sniff of the roses, sighing contently.

~~~

Percy trudged quietly into the apartment, removing his hat with a small groan as the morning light filtered through the windows. He started removing his jacket, placing it on the coat rack, before he felt something odd under his foot.

A red petal wrinkled under his sock, not yet ripped. Percy bent over, putting the petal between his fingers, a curious look in his eye.

“Is this?” he stopped himself as he saw another petal, one right after another, in a trail. He looked over the line of petals, seeming to end at their bedroom.

Confusion turned to amusement, a smirk now where a frown had been. Percy followed the trail, slowly starting to remove his shirt in the process.

“Took you long enough.” There was Vax’ildan to greet him at the end of the trail, a rose delicately in his hand and nothing else.

“Is it bad this is what I was hoping you’d do with my little surprise?” In a moment Percy’s shirt and pants were on the floor.

“Well, they say great minds think alike.” A peck to the lips as the bed shifted with Percy’s weight, hands starting to travel.

  
“That they do,” another longer kiss, “That they do.”  


	30. Day 12: Having A Lazy Day

It was a rarity, a morning Vax’ildan actually got up when he first woke up. Taking only a few moments of reaching out, meeting nothing but air, he rose from the bed, seeing the other side of it empty.

With a yawn, Vax grabbed his hoodie, put on his glasses, and pulled his hair back, treading out of the room with the soft pad of his socks. He shivered at the cold before hearing the faint sound of the TV playing in the living room.

He peaked around the corner, seeing Percy spread out on the couch, attention drawn on the phone in his hand. Vax couldn’t help but chuckle as he walked in, making his presence known.

“Mornin’ handsome.” 

That seemed to get Percy’s attention, with him putting the phone in his pocket, “Morning.” he reached out his hand, seeming to flex his fingers towards Vax.

He rolled his eyes at the gesture before making his way to the couch, letting Percy wrapped his arm around his waist and pulling him down with a small giggle.

“Whatcha watching?” Vax asked, adjusting himself within Percy’s grasp.

“Huh? Oh….I’ve not...been paying attention to be perfectly honest with you.”

“I figured,” he reached out, grabbing the remote, “I could hardly see you enjoying Jerry Springer.”

“Was I-Oh God, ew, turn it.” Vax thought the disgusted look Percy was giving him was actually rather adorable.

“Of course Darling, of course,” He channel surfed for a few minutes, settling in on what seemed like a movie channel of some sort, “Better?”

Percy looked at the TV for a moment, his disgust fading only slightly, “I guess…”

“At least you can admit the movies are great at poking fun.”

A disgruntled noise escaped Percy, “I suppose,” a smile, and a peck on the lips as he tightened his grip, “I love you.”

“I love you too.” he leaned against Percy’s chest, eyes beginning to close. God, he had just woken up.

But he felt so, calm and at ease, it was hard to not let the feeling overtake him, his breath starting to match Percy’s heartbeat.

  
He could be awfully happy, Vax thought to himself, to be like this for awhile. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, we come to an end of the 30 Day OTP Challenge and the end of this fic, almost a year after I started it too! I just want to thank everyone who's read, reviewed, kudoed, and commented. This was the fic that got me started back into writing and without it my other projects would have only been a dream, so it and you, the reader, mean the world to me. Thank you for joining me on this journey, and may your day and life be wonderful~

**Author's Note:**

> Challenge used: http://tmblr.co/ZMp87m1y5-b8f


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